Sample records for technology pacific northwest

On March 26, 2013, the Snohomish County Public Utility District (PUD) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) jointly hosted the PacificNorthwest Cyber Summit with the DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, the White House, Washington State congressional delegation, Washington State National Guard, and regional energy companies.

The IAEA has established international safeguards standards for fissionable materials at spent fuel reprocessing plants to ensure that significant quantities of weapons-grade nuclear material are not diverted over a specified time frame. It is, therefore, necessary to confirm proper operational performance to verify facilities operate under adequate safeguard-declared conditions. This verification can be achieved by employing monitoring equipment. Online real time monitoring of the flowsheet radiochemical streams provides a unique capability to rapidly identify deviations from normal operating conditions. Flowsheet monitoring technologies being developed at PNNL include three integrated systems: Multi-Isotope Process (MIP) Monitor, spectroscopy-based monitor (UV-vis-NIR and Raman spectrometers), and Electrochemically Modulated Separations (EMS). The MIP Monitor is designed to identify off-normal conditions in process streams using gamma spectroscopy and pattern recognition software. The spectroscopic monitoring continuously measures chemical compositions of the process streams including actinide metal ions (U, Pu, Np), selected fission products, and major cold flowsheet chemicals. EMS provides an on-line means for pre-separating and pre-concentrating elements of interest out of complex matrices prior to detection. PNNL is preparing to test these multi-parametric technologies using different samples of dissolved spent fuel and aqueous and organic phases of the PUREX and UREX flowsheets. We will report our on-going efforts with specific focus given to quantifying sensitivity of the MIP Monitor and UV-Vis and Raman spectrometers to detect minor changes in major process variables.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has established international safeguards standards for fissionable material at spent fuel reprocessing plants to ensure that significant quantities of weapons-grade nuclear material are not diverted over a specified time frame. Currently, methods to verify that the facilities are operating under adequate safeguard-declared conditions require time consuming sampling and expensive, destructive analysis. The time delay between sampling and subsequent analysis provides a potential opportunity to divert the material out of the appropriate chemical stream. One way to avoid this problem is to use process monitoring equipment that is capable of on-line and in near-real time monitoring of the flowsheet radiochemical streams to rapidly identify deviations from normal operating conditions. Three integrated systems for flowsheet monitoring are currently being developed at PNNL including: 1) Multi-Isotope Process Monitor (MIP), 2) a spectroscopy-based monitor utilizing UV-Vis-NIR (Ultra Violet-Visible-Near Infrared) and Raman spectrometers, and 3) Electrochemically Modulated Separations (EMS). MIP uses gamma spectroscopy and pattern recognition software to identify off-normal conditions in process streams. The UV-Vis-NIR and Raman spectroscopic monitoring continuously measures chemical compositions of the process streams including actinide metal ions (U, Pu, Np), selected fission products, and major cold flowsheet chemicals. EMS provides an on-line means for pre-separating and preconcentrating elements of interest out of complex matrices prior to detection via non-destructive assay by gamma spectroscopy or destructive analysis with mass spectrometry. PNNL previously reported some of its initial modeling work as proof of principle. Here we will provide a general overview of the technologies and the ongoing demonstrations that utilize actual spent fuel.

The Battelle Memorial Institute has managed the PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) for the US Department of Energy for 25 years. During this time, numerous new technologies have been discovered and developed at PNL as a result of our research programs. This document will introduce you to some of the more significant discoveries and newly commercialized technologies. Each of the technologies described has received an award from Research Development magazine or the Federal Laboratory Consortium--sometimes both Each technology is available to you through PNL's technology transfer program or one of our licensees. Similarly, our award-winning scientists and engineers are available to assist you as you search for innovative technologies to solve your technical problems. These researchers are familiar with current problems confronting industry, government agencies, and the academic community. They are happy to apply their skills and PNL's resources to your problems. PNL encourages its researchers to work with government agencies, universities, and US industries. PNL technology transfer programs address the nation's drive toward increased competitiveness by being flexible and aggressive, and are designed to tailor results to fit your needs and those of your clients. If you are in search of a new technology or increased competitiveness, consider collaborative efforts with our award-winning staff, whose accomplishments are synopsized in this booklet.

The Battelle Memorial Institute has managed the PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) for the US Department of Energy for 25 years. During this time, numerous new technologies have been discovered and developed at PNL as a result of our research programs. This document will introduce you to some of the more significant discoveries and newly commercialized technologies. Each of the technologies described has received an award from Research Development magazine or the Federal Laboratory Consortium--sometimes both Each technology is available to you through PNL's technology transfer program or one of our licensees. Similarly, our award-winning scientists and engineers are available to assist you as you search for innovative technologies to solve your technical problems. These researchers are familiar with current problems confronting industry, government agencies, and the academic community. They are happy to apply their skills and PNL's resources to your problems. PNL encourages its researchers to work with government agencies, universities, and US industries. PNL technology transfer programs address the nation's drive toward increased competitiveness by being flexible and aggressive, and are designed to tailor results to fit your needs and those of your clients. If you are in search of a new technology or increased competitiveness, consider collaborative efforts with our award-winning staff, whose accomplishments are synopsized in this booklet.

The PacificNorthwest Smart Grid Demonstration (PNWSGD), a $179 million project that was co-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in late 2009, was one of the largest and most comprehensive demonstrations of electricity grid modernization ever completed. The project was one of 16 regional smart grid demonstrations funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It was the only demonstration that included multiple states and cooperation from multiple electric utilities, including rural electric co-ops, investor-owned, municipal, and other public utilities. No fewer than 55 unique instantiations of distinct smart grid systems were demonstrated at the projects’ sites. The local objectives for these systems included improved reliability, energy conservation, improved efficiency, and demand responsiveness. The demonstration developed and deployed an innovative transactive system, unique in the world, that coordinated many of the project’s distributed energy resources and demand-responsive components. With the transactive system, additional regional objectives were also addressed, including the mitigation of renewable energy intermittency and the flattening of system load. Using the transactive system, the project coordinated a regional response across the 11 utilities. This region-wide connection from the transmission system down to individual premises equipment was one of the major successes of the project. The project showed that this can be done and assets at the end points can respond dynamically on a wide scale. In principle, a transactive system of this type might eventually help coordinate electricity supply, transmission, distribution, and end uses by distributing mostly automated control responsibilities among the many distributed smart grid domain members and their smart devices.

This quarterly report consists of progress summaries of research conducted by the staff of PacificNorthwest Laboratories (PNL). This reporting period includes progress made from April 1, 1976 through June 30, 1976. The summaries are presented in four major categories of: (1) fusion systems engineering, (2) material research and radiation environment simulation, (3) environmental effects of fusion concepts, and (4) manpower development. At the beginning of each section is a brief summary of the reports making up the section. The reports themselves have been kept relatively short and include preliminary results which ultimately are expected to be published elsewhere.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — In the PacificNorthwest Salmon Habitat Project Database Across the PacificNorthwest, both public and private agents are working to improve riverine habitat for a...

Sources of diversity in the PacificNorthwest's Spanish origin population, up 79.7% since 1970, was the subject of research based on 1980 Census data. Census information for Whites and Hispanics from metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties with 400 or more persons of Spanish origin was compared on the basis of age, family/household structure,…

This report provides a collection of annotated bibliographies for documents prepared under the Hanford High-Level Waste Vitrification (Plant) Program. The bibliographies are for documents from Fiscal Year 1983 through Fiscal Year 1995, and include work conducted at or under the direction of the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory. The bibliographies included focus on the technology developed over the specified time period for vitrifying Hanford pretreated high-level waste. The following subject areas are included: General Documentation; Program Documentation; High-Level Waste Characterization; Glass Formulation and Characterization; Feed Preparation; Radioactive Feed Preparation and Glass Properties Testing; Full-Scale Feed Preparation Testing; Equipment Materials Testing; Melter Performance Assessment and Evaluations; Liquid-Fed Ceramic Melter; Cold Crucible Melter; Stirred Melter; High-Temperature Melter; Melter Off-Gas Treatment; Vitrification Waste Treatment; Process, Product Control and Modeling; Analytical; and Canister Closure, Decontamination, and Handling

This document reviews the geothermal history, technology, costs, and PacificNorthwest potentials. The report discusses geothermal generation, geothermal resources in the PacificNorthwest, cost and operating characteristics of geothermal power plants, environmental effects of geothermal generation, and prospects for development in the PacificNorthwest. This report was prepared expressly for use by the Northwest Power Planning Council. The report contains numerous references at the end of the document. [DJE-2005

The 1997 White Book is presented in two documents: (1) this summary of Federal system and PacificNorthwest region loads and resources; and (2) a technical appendix detailing the loads and resources for each major PacificNorthwest generating utility. Data detailing PacificNorthwest non-utility generating (NUG) resources is also available upon request. This analysis updates the 1996 pacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study, published in December 1996. In this loads and resources study, resource availability is compared with a medium forecast of electricity consumption. This document analyzes the PacificNorthwest`s projected loads and available generating resources in two parts: (1) the loads and resources of the Federal system, for which BPA is the marketing agency; and (2) the larger PacificNorthwest regional power system which includes loads and resources in addition to the Federal system. This study presents the Federal system and regional analyses for the medium load forecast. This analysis projects the yearly average energy consumption and resource availability for Operating Years (OY) 1998--99 through 2007--08.

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR), also known as airborne laser scanning, is a rapidly emerging technology for remote sensing. Used to help map, monitor, and assess natural resources, LiDAR data were first embraced by forestry professionals in Scandinavia as a tool for conducting forest inventories in the mid to late 1990s. Thus early LiDAR theory and applications...

This project was conducted to develop curriculum materials for classes in energy and water conservation for the Irrigation Technology Program at Walla Walla Community College. To develop the curriculum, the principal investigator read and analyzed materials on the subjects of water and energy conservation, participated in a short course on drip…

In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program is assessing stream quality in the PacificNorthwest. The goals of the PacificNorthwest Stream Quality Assessment (PacificNorthwest study) are to assess the quality of streams in the region by characterizing multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to aquatic life and to evaluate the relation between these stressors and biological communities. The effects of urbanization and agriculture on stream quality for the Puget Lowlands and Willamette Valley are the focus of this regional study. Findings will provide the public and policymakers with information regarding which human and environmental factors are the most critical in affecting stream quality and, thus, provide insights about possible approaches to protect or improve the health of streams in the region.

Phosphorus is a naturally occurring element found in all rocks; the amount varies by the type of rock. The amount of phosphorus in sediments is expected to be correlated with the amount of phosphorus in the parent rocks. Streambed sediment collected by the National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE) Program were used to estimate the variation of phosphorus across the PacificNorthwest. This file provides an estimate of the mean concentration of phosphorus in soils for each incremental catchment of the USGS PacificNorthwest SPARROW model.

This report contains the operation and direction plan for the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy. The topics of the plan include the laboratory mission and core competencies, the laboratory strategic plan; the laboratory initiatives in molecular sciences, microbial biotechnology, global environmental change, complex modeling of physical systems, advanced processing technology, energy technology development, and medical technologies and systems; core business areas, critical success factors, and resource projections.

The United Nations declared that 2016 is the International Year of Pulses (IYP). This UN declaration of IYP will certainly increase awareness of pulses and likely position pulses as a primary source of protein and other essential nutrients for human diets. The US PacificNorthwest region (Idaho, Or...

Throughout the PacificNorthwest, since 1850, all wild salmon runs have declined and some have disappeared. Billions of dollars have been spent in a so-far failed attempt to reverse the long-term decline. Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars continue to be spent in variou...

Irrigation in the PacificNorthwest is an energy-intensive process which represents a major part of the total energy used in farm level food production. Since 1950, several major developments have precipitated pronounced increases in irrigation energy requirements. For example, the invention of efficient high-lift pumps, labor-saving equipment, new uses for irrigation sprinklers, and profitable cropping patterns have substantially escalated irrigation energy consumption in the PacificNorthwest in the past 25 years. Until recently, energy prices have remained relatively low and constant. The next 25 years will continue to experience advanced irrigation technologies. In addition to technological development, however, the cost of energy and water will certainly rise while their availabilities become increasingly constrained. The depletion of ground water in several parts of the United States could also potentially increase the irrigation burden of the PacificNorthwest. Lastly, parts of the PacificNorthwest water supply are directly convertible to energy via hydroelectric generation. This study proposes to make realistic projections relative to present and future interactions of the above components.

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory`s core mission is to deliver environmental science and technology in the service of the nation and humanity. Through basic research fundamental knowledge is created of natural, engineered, and social systems that is the basis for both effective environmental technology and sound public policy. Legacy environmental problems are solved by delivering technologies that remedy existing environmental hazards, today`s environmental needs are addressed with technologies that prevent pollution and minimize waste, and the technical foundation is being laid for tomorrow`s inherently clean energy and industrial processes. PacificNorthwest National Laboratory also applies its capabilities to meet selected national security, energy, and human health needs; strengthen the US economy; and support the education of future scientists and engineers. Brief summaries are given of the various tasks being carried out under these broad categories.

Severe wind and snow storms hit the PacificNorthwest region on December 14 – 15, 2006, following severe flooding during the past few days. The severe weather resulted in major power outages through the region. At peak there were 1.8 million customers without power which included BC Hydro in Canada. Currently, there are over 1.5 million outages in the region as a result of the PacificNorthwest Storms. This represents about 42 percent of customers in affected utility service areas in Oregon and Washington. See table below. Because the current wind and snow storms are coming on the heels of extensive flooding in the region, electric utilities are experiencing damage. Wind gusts reached close to 100 mph in some areas of the region. The storm is expected to bring its strong winds and heavy snow into Idaho, Montana and Wyoming Friday and into the weekend. There are currently no reported major impacts to the petroleum and natural gas infrastructure.

Significant progress has been made in restoring power to customers in the PacificNorthwest region. Currently, 237,030 customers remain without power. This is down from 1.8 million customers who lost power following severe wind and snow storms on December 14-15, 2006. The customers without power represent about 8 percent of customers in the affected utility service areas of Oregon and Washington.

Significant progress has been made in restoring power to customers in the PacificNorthwest region. Currently, 186,627 customers remain without power. The majority of customers without power are served by Puget Sound Energy. This is down from 1.8 million customers who lost power following severe wind and snow storms on December 14-15, 2006. The customers without power represent about 6 percent of customers in the affected utility service areas of Oregon and Washington. See table below.

The creation and use of large amounts of data in scientific investigations has become common practice. Data collection and analysis for large scientific computing efforts are not only increasing in volume as well as number, the methods and analysis procedures are evolving toward greater complexity (Bell, 2009, Clarke, 2009, Maimon, 2010). In addition, the growth of diverse data-intensive scientific computing efforts (Soni, 2011, Turner, 2014, Wu, 2008) has demonstrated the value of supporting scientific data integration. Efforts to bridge this gap between the above perspectives have been attempted, in varying degrees, with modular scientific computing analysis regimes implemented with a modest amount of success (Perez, 2009). This constellation of effects - 1) an increasing growth in the volume and amount of data, 2) a growing data-intensive science base that has challenging needs, and 3) disparate data organization and integration efforts - has created a critical gap. Namely, systems of scientific data organization and management typically do not effectively enable integrated data collaboration or data-intensive science-based communications. Our research efforts attempt to address this gap by developing a modular technology framework for data science integration efforts - with climate variation as the focus. The intention is that this model, if successful, could be generalized to other application areas. Our research aim focused on the design and implementation of a modular, deployable technology architecture for data integration. Developed using aspects of R, interactive python, SciDB, THREDDS, Javascript, and varied data mining and machine learning techniques, the Modular Data Response Framework (MDRF) was implemented to explore case scenarios for bio-climatic variation as they relate to pacificnorthwest ecosystem regions. Our preliminary results, using historical NETCDF climate data for calibration purposes across the inland pacificnorthwest region

Heat flow studies in NorthwestPacific marginal seas has a more than 40 years history with more than 4000 heat flow values obtained. The regional average value is 80.4 mW/m2, which is lower than the world's 87 mW/m2, but higher than those of the Eurasia continent and the Pacific Ocean. This reflects the regional crust property in the area. The studies on distribution of the heat flow and contour pattern of heat flow in 1°×1°and 2°×2°scales in NorthwestPacific marginal seas revealed that the most high heat flow anomalies in the area were found along back-arc basins and island arc in an obviously northeasterly track. Exceptions are the Komandoskaya Basin (KMB), the Izu-Bonin Trough (IBT) and the Mariana Trough (MT), which extend in northwest. The contours of low heat flow marked the boundaries of the continent and the ocean. The present heat flow values reflect the imprint of the last thermal event and relate closely to tectonic activity. The high heat flow gradient areas have high frequency of earthquake. Therefore, the area of faulting controlled the pattern of the heat flow anomalies. Heat flow gradient in 135°direction indicated a major lithosphere transformation oceanward resulting from movement of the earth's material. In this paper, we described patterns of heat flow distribution in the NorthwestPacific, heat flow value changes in horizontal and vertical directions, combining the studies of Shi (1997) on the landforms of the island arcs in east Asia and plate movement, and the results of Shi and Zhang (1998) on heat simulation of subduction of active ocean mountain and the activity of islands arc. A preliminary model of geodynamics in the NorthwestPacific and its adjacent area was put forward. There is a great lateral heat flow gradient on the surface of the mantle between ocean and continent, which indicates that the materials in asthenosphere move from continent to ocean causing movement of the crust.

"Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Perspective from Portland and the PacificNorthwest is the summary of a workshop convened by the National Research Council's Science and Technology for Sustainability Program in May 2013 to examine...

The PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study (White Book) is published annually by BPA and establishes the planning basis for supplying electricity to customers. It serves a dual purpose. First, the White Book presents projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. Second, the White Book serves as a benchmark for annual BPA determinations made pursuant to its regional power sales contracts. Specifically, BPA uses the information in the White Book for determining the notice required when customers request to increase or decrease the amount of power purchased from BPA. The White Book will not be used in calculations for the 2002 regional power sales contract subscription process. The White Book compiles information obtained from several formalized resource planning reports and data submittals, including those from the Northwest Power Planning Council (Council) and the PacificNorthwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). The White Book is not an operational planning guide, nor is it used for determining BPA revenues. Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is based on a set of criteria different from that used for resource planning decisions. Operational planning is dependent upon real-time or near-term knowledge of system conditions, including expectations of river flows and runoff, market opportunities, availability of reservoir storage, energy exchanges, and other factors affecting the dynamics of operating a power system. In this loads and resources study, resource availability is compared with a medium forecast of electricity consumption. The forecasted future electricity demands--firm loads--are subtracted from the projected capability of existing and ''contracted for'' resources to determine whether BPA and the region will be surplus or deficit. If Federal system resources are greater than loads in any particular year or month, there is

Significant progress has been made in restoring power to customers in the PacificNorthwest region. Currently, 134,868 customers remain without power. The number of outages is down from 1.8 million customers who lost power following severe wind and snow storms on December 14-15, 2006. The customers without power represent less than 5 percent of customers in the affected utility service areas of Oregon and Washington. The majority of customers without power are served by Puget Sound Energy and Seattle City Light.

Significant progress has been made in restoring power to customers in the PacificNorthwest region. Currently, 468,200 customers, including Canada, remain without power. This is down from 1.8 million customers who lost power following severe wind and snow storms on December 14-15, 2006. The customers without power represent about 16 percent of customers in the affected utility service areas of Oregon and Washington. See table below. The Olympic pipeline reports that the pipeline is operational; however, pipeline throughput remains reduced since one substation along the line remains without power. Complete power restoration is expected later today. There are no reports of problems regarding fuel distribution and production.

Severe wind and snow storms hit the PacificNorthwest region on December 14 – 15, 2006 resulting in major power outagesin the region. The storm is now moving off into southern Canada. A new weather disturbance nearing the Northwest coast may generate a few rain and snow showers across the Seattle and Portland areas today, but widespread active weather is not expected. There are roughly 950,000 customers in the region (including Canada) without power as a result of the Pacific Northweststorms, down from a peak of 1.8 million customers. This represents about 26 percent of customers in affected utility service areas in Oregon and Washington. See table below. As of 12:30 PM EST, the Renton Control Center for the Olympic Pipeline (petroleum products) had power restored. The pipeline, serviced by Puget Sound Energy, was shut down after it lost power during the storm. According to a pipeline official, the pipeline is expected to restart in approximately 2-3 hours with some reduced throughput later today. SeaTac International Airport receives jet fuel from the pipeline; however, it’s been reported that the airport has approximately eight days of jet fuel inventories on hand. There are no reports of problems regarding fuel production. There are some temporary and minor distribution at retail gas stations due to lack of power. Fuel delivery is also slowed in some areas due to delays on some roads. ESF #12 has not been deployed

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL), one of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science’s 10 national laboratories, provides innovative science and technology development in the areas of energy and the environment, fundamental and computational science, and national security. DOE’s PacificNorthwest Site Office (PNSO) is responsible for oversight of PNNL at its Campus in Richland, Washington, as well as its facilities in Sequim, Seattle, and North Bonneville, Washington, and Corvallis and Portland, Oregon.

The PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study (White Book), which is published annually by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), establishes one of the planning bases for supplying electricity to customers. The White Book contains projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. The White Book also contains information obtained from formalized resource planning reports and data submittals including those from individual utilities, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Council), and the PacificNorthwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). The White Book is not an operational planning guide, nor is it used for determining BPA revenues, although the database that generates the data for the White Book analysis contributes to the development of BPA's inventory and ratemaking processes. Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is based on a set of criteria different from that used for resource planning decisions. Operational planning is dependent upon real-time or near-term knowledge of system conditions that include expectations of river flows and runoff, market opportunities, availability of reservoir storage, energy exchanges, and other factors affecting the dynamics of operating a power system. The load resource balance of both the Federal system and the region is determined by comparing resource availability to an expected level of total retail electricity consumption. Resources include projected energy capability plus contract purchases. Loads include a forecast of retail obligations plus contract obligations. Surplus energy is available when resources are greater than loads. This surplus energy could be marketed to increase revenues. Energy deficits occur when resources are less than loads. These energy deficits will be met by any combination of the following: better-than-critical water conditions, demand-side management and conservation

A total of 3708 1 x 1 deg free-air gravity anomaly averages have been used to construct a new 1 x 1 deg gravimetric geoid of the NorthwestPacific Ocean. The 1 x 1 deg averages are based on a compilation of 147,000 surface ship and pendulum gravity measurements. Difference geoid undulations range from a maximum of +19 m over the Hawaiian ridge to a minimum of -31 m over the junction of the Kuril and Aleutian trenches. The Hawaiian swell is associated with a geoidal high of up to +15 m with wavelengths of about 2200 km and the topographic rises seaward of deep-sea trenches are associated with geoidal highs of up to 4 m with wavelengths of about 220-900 km. The agreement between the gravimetric geoid and Skylab-4 and Geos-3 altimeter data is close for wavelengths greater than about 300 km but poor for shorter wavelengths.

Despite a small storm that came through the area last night with wind gusts peaking at 45 MPH, progress continues to be made in restoring power to customers who lost power during the December 14-15 storms which hit the PacificNorthwest region. Currently, 95,971 customers remain without power, down from 1.8 million customers. The wind storm which affected the area yesterday was not as bad as previously expected, with the majority of the customer outages in the BC Hydro region, and 3,000 additional customer outages in the Puget Sound Energy service area. The customers without power represent 5 percent of customers in the affected utility service areas of Washington. The majority of customers without power are served by Puget Sound Energy, BC Hydro, and Seattle City Light.

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory`s core mission is to deliver environmental science and technology in the service of the nation and humanity. Through basic research the lab creates fundamental knowledge of natural, engineered, and social systems that is the basis for both effective environmental technology and sound public policy. They solve legacy environmental problems by delivering technologies that remedy existing environmental hazards, they address today`s environmental needs with technologies that prevent pollution and minimize waste, and they are laying the technical foundation for tomorrow`s inherently clean energy and industrial processes. The lab also applies their capabilities to meet selected national security, energy, and human health needs; strengthen the US economy; and support the education of future scientists and engineers. The paper summarizes individual research activities under each of these areas.

The PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study (White Book), which is published annually by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), establishes one of the planning bases for supplying electricity to customers. The White Book contains projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. The White Book also contains information obtained from formalized resource planning reports and data submittals including those from individual utilities, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Council), and the PacificNorthwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). The White Book is not an operational planning guide, nor is it used for determining BPA revenues, although the database that generates the data for the White Book analysis contributes to the development of BPA's inventory and ratemaking processes. Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is based on a set of criteria different from that used for resource planning decisions. Operational planning is dependent upon real-time or near-term knowledge of system conditions that include expectations of river flows and runoff, market opportunities, availability of reservoir storage, energy exchanges, and other factors affecting the dynamics of operating a power system. In this loads and resources study, resource availability is compared to an expected level of total retail electricity consumption. The forecasted annual energy electricity retail load plus contract obligations are subtracted from the sum of the projected annual energy capability of existing resources and contract purchases to determine whether BPA and/or the region will be surplus or deficit. Surplus energy is available when resources are greater than loads. This energy could be marketed to increase revenues. Deficits occur when resources are less than loads. Energy deficits could be met by any combination of the following: better-than-critical water

The PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study (White Book), which is published annually by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), establishes one of the planning bases for supplying electricity to customers. The White Book contains projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. The White Book also contains information obtained from formalized resource planning reports and data submittals including those from individual utilities, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Council), and the PacificNorthwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). The White Book is not an operational planning guide, nor is it used for determining BPA revenues, although the database that generates the data for the White Book analysis contributes to the development of BPA's inventory and ratemaking processes. Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is based on a set of criteria different from that used for resource planning decisions. Operational planning is dependent upon real-time or near-term knowledge of system conditions that include expectations of river flows and runoff, market opportunities, availability of reservoir storage, energy exchanges, and other factors affecting the dynamics of operating a power system. The load resource balance of BPA and/or the region is determined by comparing resource availability to an expected level of total retail electricity consumption. Resources include projected energy capability plus contract purchases. Loads include a forecast of retail obligations plus contract obligations. Surplus energy is available when resources are greater than loads. This energy could be marketed to increase revenues. Energy deficits occur when resources are less than loads. These deficits could be met by any combination of the following: better-than-critical water conditions, demand-side management and conservation programs, permanent loss of loads due

The PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study (White Book), which is published annually by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), establishes one of the planning bases for supplying electricity to customers. The White Book contains projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. The White Book also contains information obtained from formalized resource planning reports and data submittals including those from individual utilities, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Council), and the PacificNorthwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). The White Book is not an operational planning guide, nor is it used for determining BPA revenues, although the database that generates the data for the White Book analysis contributes to the development of BPA's inventory and ratemaking processes. Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is based on a set of criteria different from that used for resource planning decisions. Operational planning is dependent upon real-time or near-term knowledge of system conditions that include expectations of river flows and runoff, market opportunities, availability of reservoir storage, energy exchanges, and other factors affecting the dynamics of operating a power system. The load resource balance of BPA and/or the region is determined by comparing resource availability to an expected level of total retail electricity consumption. Resources include projected energy capability plus contract purchases. Loads include a forecast of retail obligations plus contract obligations. Surplus energy is available when resources are greater than loads. This energy could be marketed to increase revenues. Energy deficits occur when resources are less than loads. These deficits could be met by any combination of the following: better-than-critical water conditions, demand-side management and conservation programs, permanent loss of loads due

Pacific Northwest and Alaska Bioenergy Program (U.S.); United States. Bonneville Power Administration.

1994-04-01

The U.S. Department of Energy administers five Regional Bioenergy Programs to encourage regionally specific application of biomass and municipal waste-to-energy technologies to local needs, opportunities and potentials. The PacificNorthwest and Alaska region has taken up a number of applied research and technology projects, and supported and guided its five participating state energy programs. This report describes the PacificNorthwest and Alaska Regional Bioenergy Program, and related projects of the state energy agencies, and summarizes the results of technical studies. It also considers future efforts of this regional program to meet its challenging assignment.

The objective of the PacificNorthwest Regional Assessment Program is to establish and exercise an integrated analytical assessment program for evaluation of potential changes that may result from various energy development or conservation scenarios. Such scenarios may themselves result from Federal development policies and programs, from regionally specific actions by the states and energy industries, or from actions taken by international factors currently importing energy resources into the region. After consideration of a variety of approaches to integrated assessment at a regional level, Battelle PacificNorthwest Laboratories (BNW) has concluded that dynamic simulation techniques provide the best available approach to evaluating the issues pertinent to the Northwest. As a result, the PacificNorthwest Regional Assessment Program has been structured in a framework involving ten sectors. Each of these sectors involve their own submodels that receive information either from outside the model as exogenous inputs or from other sector submodels.

During this final year of the PacificNorthwest Regional Collaboratory we focused significantly on continuing the relationship between technical teams and government end-users. The main theme of the year was integration. This took the form of data integration via our web portal and integration of our technologies with the end users. The PNWRC's technical portfolio is based on EOS strategies, and focuses on 'applications of national priority: water management, invasive species, coastal management and ecological forecasting.' The products of our technical approaches have been well received by the community of focused end-users. The objective this year was to broaden that community and develop external support to continue and operationalize product development.

Restoring the PacificNorthwest is a handbook that brings together in a single volume a vast array of information on the science and practice of restoration in a broadly defined PacificNorthwest region...

The PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study (White Book) is published annually by BPA and establishes the planning basis for supplying electricity to customers. It serves a dual purpose. First, the White Book presents projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. Second, the White Book serves as a benchmark for annual BPA determinations made pursuant to the 1981 regional power sales contracts. Specifically, BPA uses the information in the White Book for determining the notice required when customers request to increase or decrease the amount of power purchased from BPA. The White Book compiles information obtained from several formalized resource planning reports and data submittals, including those from the Northwest Power Planning Council (Council) and the PacificNorthwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). The White Book is not an operational planning guide, nor is it used for inventory planning to determine BPA revenues. Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is based on a set of criteria different from that used for resource planning decisions. Operational planning is dependent upon real-time or near-term knowledge of system conditions, including expectations of river flows and runoff, market opportunities, availability of reservoir storage, energy exchanges, and other factors affecting the dynamics of operating a power system. The 1998 White Book is presented in two documents: (1) this summary of Federal system and PacificNorthwest region loads and resources; and (2) a technical appendix detailing the loads and resources for each major PacificNorthwest generating utility. This analysis updates the December 1997 PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study.

Soil and water conservation has been a major concern in the Inland PacificNorthwest since the onset of farming 125 years ago. Some of the highest historic water erosion rates in the USA have occurred on steep slopes in the Palouse region where soil loss averaged 45 Mg ha-1 yr-1 and could reach 450 ...

Stemphylium blight of lentil, caused by the fungus Stemphylium botryosum, has recently emerged as a disease problem in the PacificNorthwest, particularly on the recently released lentil cultivar ‘Morena’. The first step toward managing the disease is to correctly identify early signs of the diseas...

A grid sampling strategy was adopted for broad-scale inventory and monitoring of forest and range vegetation on National Forest System lands in the PacificNorth-west Region, USDA Forest Service. This paper documents the technical details of the adopted design and discusses alternative sampling designs that were considered. A less technical description of the selected...

Communicating the scientific knowledge generated by the PacificNorthwest Research Station is integral to our mission. The 2014 Science Accomplishments reports highlights the breadth of the stationâs research, the relevance of our science findings, and the application of these findings. The photographs throughout the report showcase the region where we work and how...

As I look back at 2007 for the PacificNorthwest (PNW) Research Station, I am very gratified at the contributions of our scientists and support staff in producing scientific knowledge and tools. This year has brought unprecedented recognition of the contributions of our scientists. Ralph Alig (research forester), Ron Neilson (bioclimatologist), and David L. Peterson (...

Communicating the scientific knowledge generated by the PacificNorthwest Research Station is integral to our mission. The 2013 Science Accomplishments reports highlights the breadth of the stationâs research, the relevance of our science findings, and the application of these findings. The photographs throughout the report showcase the region where we work and how...

This book examines the potential of Silvicultural approaches for managing animal damage in forests at two levels: management of free-to-grow stands and sitespecific practices that foster prompt and successful regeneration. Introductory chapters provide a historical perspective of animal damage management in the PacificNorthwest, describe the elements of an integrated...

Methods describing how to sample aquatic and semiaquatic amphibians in small streams and headwater habitats in the PacificNorthwest are presented. We developed a technique that samples 10-meter stretches of selected streams, which was adequate to detect presence or absence of amphibian species and provided sample sizes statistically sufficient to compare abundance of...

Zebra chip is a destructive disease of potatoes in the PacificNorthwest and other potato production regions of North America. The pathogen associated with this disease is transmitted by the potato psyllid. A team of researchers which included a scientist at the ARS in Wapato, WA updated an extens...

Climate change (CC) is an important issue students should understand to be productive members of society. The objectives were to evaluate the instruction and teacher perceptions relating to CC in the Inland PacificNorthwest (IPNW) secondary (7-12) classes across disciplines. The teacher perceptions, instructional frequency, perceived barriers to…

Coastal change hazards are increasingly affecting economically important areas, including those used for infrastructure, commerce, and public recreation. Quantifying shoreline change rates and understanding the contributing factors is crucial to protect these areas and to assist federal, state, and local agencies in developing long-term management plans. A recent study by the USGS National Assessment of Shoreline Change project analyzed the historical shoreline record along the U.S. PacificNorthwest with emphasis on both century-scale (1800s--2002) and decadal-scale (1960-80s--2002) change rates (Ruggiero, P., Kratzmann, M.A., Himmelstoss, E.G., Reid, D., Allan, J., and Kaminsky, G., 2013: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2012-1007, 55 p.). The study was the first consistent state-wide coastal change assessment for Oregon and revealed a significant increase in erosion hazards in the near-term. The coastal landscape in Oregon is particularly dynamic and includes beaches that are backed by both cliffs and dunes, and range in texture from sand to cobble. The high wave energy in the PacificNorthwest results in a morphology with primarily intermediate to dissipative beaches. Resistant rocky headlands separate the Oregon coast into 18 distinct littoral cells, greatly influencing how the shoreline changes with time. While the century-scale average of all 560 km of Oregon coastline suggests the shore is prograding at 0.4 m/yr, the decadal-scale record indicates that 13 of the 18 littoral cells either are accreting at a slower rate, have changed from accretional to erosional, or are eroding at a faster rate. This apparent increase in erosion-affected coasts may be caused by several factors including sea-level rise, increasing storm wave heights, tectonic uplift, and climatic events (eg., El Niño), but overall it indicates a shifting trend in shoreline change rates. In the present study, we quantify shoreline change rates on a third timescale, seasonal to

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth are disproportionally burdened by many common adolescent health issues, including drug and alcohol use, injury and violence, sexually transmitted infections, and teen pregnancy. Media technologies, including the Internet, cell phones, and video games, offer new avenues for reaching adolescents on a…

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth are disproportionally burdened by many common adolescent health issues, including drug and alcohol use, injury and violence, sexually transmitted infections, and teen pregnancy. Media technologies, including the Internet, cell phones, and video games, offer new avenues for reaching adolescents on a…

This study evaluates the concept of implementation of large-scale energy conservation to reduce end-use demand for electrical energy as an alternative to the need for continued construction of new power plants to meet projected energy requirements for the PacificNorthwest. In particular, the numerical accuracy, economic feasibility, and institutional impact of a conservation-oriented scenario developed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., is assessed, relative to the energy forecast prepared by the PacificNorthwest Utilities Conference Commission. The results of this study are presented in four detailed sections following an introductory and summary section: Reconstruction and Numerical Evaluation of Alternative Scenario; Economic Analysis; Institutional Impact; and Impact of New National Energy Policy.

This Institutional Plan for FY 2004-2008 is the principal annual planning document submitted to the Department of Energy's Office of Science by PacificNorthwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington. This plan describes the Laboratory's mission, roles, and technical capabilities in support of Department of Energy priorities, missions, and plans. It also describes the Laboratory strategic plan, key planning assumptions, major research initiatives, and program strategy for fundamental science, energy resources, environmental quality, and national security.

In 1983, the Northwest Power Planning Council (Council) issued Model Conservation Standards (MCS) designed to improve the efficiency of electrically heated buildings. Since then, the standards have been adopted by numerous local governments and utilities. The Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) has played an active role in marketing residential energy efficiency improvements through the Super Good Cents Program (SGCP) and encouraging the adoption and implementation of the MCS as local codes through the Early Adopter Program (EAP). Since the inception of the MCS, however, questions have arisen about the effect of the code and programs on the selection of heating fuels for new homes. Recently, Bonneville has proposed a gradual reduction in the incentive levels under these two programs prior to 1995 based on several assumptions about the market for MCS homes: builder costs will decline as builders gain experience building them; buyers will seek out MCS homes as their appreciation for their lower energy costs and greater comfort increases; and the resale market will increasingly reflect the greater quality of MCS homes. The growing availability of data from several jurisdictions where the MCS have been implemented has recently made it possible to begin assessing the effect of the MCS programs on residential fuel choice and evaluating assumptions underlying the programs and Bonneville's plans to revise them. This study is the first such assessment conducted for Bonneville.

This report documents research to identify the potential energy savings and the costs per kWh saved from using systematic rather than traditional irrigation scheduling to reduce water usage in the irrigated agricultural sector of the PacificNorthwest. This research is part of an overall project aimed at developing a computer model and data base that will allow for estimation of the potential energy savings and cost effectiveness of a number of conservation technologies that are available for use in irrigated agriculture.

Battelle—PacificNorthwest Division operates numerous research and development laboratories in Richland, Washington, including those associated with the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site that have the potential for radionuclide air emissions. The National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP 40 CFR 61, Subparts H and I) requires an assessment of all effluent release points that have the potential for radionuclide emissions. Potential emissions are assessed annually. Sampling, monitoring, and other regulatory compliance requirements are designated based upon the potential-to-emit dose criteria found in the regulations. The purpose of this document is to describe the facility radionuclide air emission sampling program and provide current and historical facility emission point system performance, operation, and design information. A description of the buildings, exhaust points, control technologies, and sample extraction details is provided for each registered or deregistered facility emission point. Additionally, applicable stack sampler configuration drawings, figures, and photographs are provided.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) PacificNorthwest Site Office (PNSO) oversees and manages the DOE contract for the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a DOE Office of Science multi-program laboratory located in Richland, Washington. PNSO is responsible for ensuring that all activities conducted on the PNNL Site comply with applicable laws, policies, and DOE orders. The DOE PacificNorthwest Site Office Cultural and Biological Resources Management Plan (DOE/PNSO 2008) addresses the requirement for annual surveys and monitoring for species of concern and to identify and map invasive species. In addition to the requirement for an annual survey, proposed project activities must be reviewed to assess any potential environmental consequences of conducting the project. The assessment process requires a thorough understanding of the resources present, the potential impacts of a proposed action to those resources, and the ultimate consequences of those actions. The PNNL Site is situated on the southeastern corner of the DOE Hanford Site, located at the north end of the city of Richland in south-central Washington. The site is bordered on the east by the Columbia River, on the west by Stevens Drive, and on the north by the Hanford Site 300 Area (Figure 1). The environmental setting of the PNNL Site is described in Larson and Downs (2009). There are currently two facilities on the PNNL Site: the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), and the recently completed Physical Sciences Facility (PSF). This report describes the results of the annual survey of the biological resources found on the undeveloped portions of the PNNL Site in 2010. A brief description of the methods PNNL ecologists used to conduct the surveys and the results of the surveys are presented. Actions taken to fully delineate noxious weed populations discovered in 2009 and efforts in 2010 to control those weeds also are described. Appendix A provides a list of plant and

The PacificNorthwest National Laboratory Institutional Plan for FY 2001-2005 sets forth the laboratory's mission, roles, technical capabilities, and laboratory strategic plan. In the plan, major initiatives also are proposed and the transitioning initiatives are discussed. The Programmatic Strategy section details our strategic intent, roles, and research thrusts in each of the U.S. Department of Energy's mission areas. The Operations/Infrastructure Strategic Plan section includes information on the laboratory's human resources; environment, safety, and health management; safeguards and security; site and facilities management; information resources management; managaement procatices and standards; and communications and trust.

A multidisciplinary seismic survey earlier this year in the PacificNorthwest is expected to reveal much new information about the earthquake threat to U.S. and Canadian urban areas there. A disastrous earthquake is a very real possibility in the region.The survey, known as the Seismic Hazards Investigation in Puget Sound (SHIPS), engendered close cooperation among geologists, biologists, environmental groups, and government agencies. It also succeeded in striking a fine balance between the need to prepare for a great earthquake and the requirement to protect a coveted marine environment while operating a large airgun array.

The PacificNorthwest National Laboratory Institutional Plan for FY 2000-2004 sets forth the laboratory's mission, roles, technical capabilities, and laboratory strategic plan. In the plan, major initiatives also are proposed and the transitioning initiatives are discussed. The Programmatic Strategy section details our strategic intent, roles, and research thrusts in each of the U.S. Department of Energy's mission areas. The Operations/Infrastructure Strategic Plan section includes information on the laboratory's human resources; environment, safety, and health management; safeguards and security; site and facilities management; information resources management; management practices and standards; and communications and trust.

This report quantified the volume of logging residues at the county level for current timber harvests. The cost of recovering logging residues was determined for skidding, yearding, loading, chipping and transporting the residues. Supply curves were developed for ten candidate conversion sites in the PacificNorthwest Region. Agricultural field residues were also quantified at the county level using five-year average crop yields. Agronomic constraints were applied to arrive at the volumes available for energy use. Collection costs and transportation costs were determined and supply curves generated for thirteen candidate conversion sites.

This study aimed to establish the potential for significant energy reduction in hospitals in the United States by providing evidence of Scandinavian operational precedents with high Interior Environmental Quality (IEQ) and substantially lower energy profiles than comparable U.S. facilities. These facilities set important precedents for design teams seeking operational examples for achieving aggressive energy and interior environmental quality goals. This examination of operational hospitals is intended to offer hospital owners, designers, and building managers a strong case and concrete framework for strategies to achieve exceptionally high performing buildings. Energy efficient hospitals have the potential to significantly impact the U.S.'s overall energy profile, and key stakeholders in the hospital industry need specific, operationally grounded precedents in order to successfully implement informed energy reduction strategies. This study is an outgrowth of previous research evaluating high quality, low energy hospitals that serve as examples for new high performance hospital design, construction, and operation. Through extensive interviews, numerous site visits, the development of case studies, and data collection, this team has established thorough qualitative and quantitative analyses of several contemporary hospitals in Scandinavia and the PacificNorthwest. Many Scandinavian hospitals demonstrate a low energy profile, and when analyzed in comparison with U.S. hospitals, such Scandinavian precedents help define the framework required to make significant changes in the U.S. hospital building industry. Eight hospitals, four Scandinavian and four PacificNorthwest, were quantitatively compared using the Environmental Protection Agency's Portfolio Manager, allowing researchers to answer specific questions about the impact of energy source and architectural and mechanical strategies on energy efficiency in operational hospitals. Specific architectural, mechanical

The PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study (White Book) is published annually by BPA and establishes the planning basis for supplying electricity to customers. It serves a dual purpose. First, the White Book presents projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. Second, the White Book serves as a benchmark for annual BPA determinations made pursuant to the 1981 regional power sales contracts.1 Specifically, BPA uses the information in the White Book for determining the notice required when customers request to increase or decrease the amount of power purchased from BPA. The White Book compiles information obtained from several formalized resource planning reports and data submittals, including those from the Northwest Power Planning Council (Council) and the PacificNorthwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). The White Book is not an operational planning guide, nor is it used for inventory planning to determine BPA revenues. Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is based on a set of criteria different from that used for resource planning decisions. Operational planning is dependent upon real-time or near-term knowledge of system conditions, including expectations of river flows and runoff, market opportunities, availability of reservoir storage, energy exchanges, and other factors affecting the dynamics of operating a power system. The 1998 White Book is presented in two documents: 1) this summary of Federal system and PacificNorthwest region loads and resources; and 2) a technical appendix detailing the loads and resources for each major PacificNorthwest generating utility. This analysis updates the December 1997 PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study. The load forecast is derived by using economic planning models to predict the loads that will be placed on electric utilities in the region. This study incorporates information on contract

Part 4 of the PacificNorthwest Laboratory Annual Report for 1993 to the DOE Office of Energy Research includes those programs funded under the title ``Physical and Technological Research.`` The Field Task Program Studies reported in this document are grouped by budget category. Attention is focused on the following subject areas: dosimetry research; and radiological and chemical physics.

We assessed historical changes in the location and amount of estuarine habitat in three of the four largest coastal estuaries in the PacificNorthwest (Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, and Coos Bay) as part of the PacificNorthwest Coastal Ecosystem Regional Study (PNCERS). To accomplish this, navigation charts, hydrographic survey data, maps, and published descriptions were used to gain information on the location of the shoreline, bathymetry, and vegetated habitats, which was then digitized and subjected to geospatial analysis using a geographic information system. In addition, we used present-day elevational boundaries for marshes, flats, and eelgrass meadows to help define habitat areas where they were not indicated on historical maps. The analysis showed that tidal flats have decreased in all study areas; potential eelgrass habitat has increased in Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay and decreased slightly in Coos Bay; tidal wetland area has declined in all three coastal estuaries, with increases in localized areas due to filling and sedimentation; and dramatic changes have occurred at the mouths of Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay. As has been shown before, these data illustrate that direct physical alteration (filling and diking) has resulted in large changes to habitats. However, indirect impacts from forest practices in the watershed, as well as variation in climatic factors and oceanographic processes, may also have contributed to changes. The information provides more evidence for managing estuarine habitats in the region and a employing a historical template to plan habitat restoration in the future.

The PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study (White Book) is published annually by BPA and establishes the planning basis for supplying electricity to customers. It serves a dual purpose. First, the White Book presents projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. Second, the White Book serves as a benchmark for annual BPA determinations made pursuant to its regional power sales contracts.1 Specifically, BPA uses the information in the White Book for determining the notice required when customers request to increase or decrease the amount of power purchased from BPA. The White Book will not be used in calculations for the 2002 regional power sales contract subscription process. The White Book compiles information obtained from several formalized resource planning reports and data submittals, including those from the Northwest Power Planning Council (Council) and the PacificNorthwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). The White Book is not an operational planning guide, nor is it used for determining BPA revenues. Operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is based on a set of criteria different from that used for resource planning decisions. Operational planning is dependent upon real-time or near-term knowledge of system conditions, including expectations of river flows and runoff, market opportunities, availability of reservoir storage, energy exchanges, and other factors affecting the dynamics of operating a power system. In this loads and resources study, resource availability is compared with a medium forecast of electricity consumption. The forecasted future electricity demands—firm loads—are subtracted from the projected capability of existing and “contracted for” resources to determine whether BPA and the region will be surplus or deficit. If Federal system resources are greater than loads in any particular year or month, there is a surplus of

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) PacificNorthwest Site Office (PNSO) oversees and manages the DOE contract for the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a DOE Office of Science multi-program laboratory located in Richland, Washington. PNSO is responsible for ensuring that all activities conducted on the PNNL site comply with applicable laws, policies, and DOE Orders. The DOE PacificNorthwest Site Office Cultural and Biological Resources Management Plan (DOE/PNSO 2008) addresses the requirement for annual surveys and monitoring for species of concern and to identify and map invasive species. In addition to the requirement for an annual survey, proposed project activities must be reviewed to assess any potential environmental consequences of conducting the project. The assessment process requires a thorough understanding of the resources present, the potential impacts of a proposed action to those resources, and the ultimate consequences of those actions. The PNNL site is situated on the southeastern corner of the DOE Hanford Site, located at the north end of the city of Richland in south-central Washington. The site is bordered on the east by the Columbia River, on the west by Stevens Drive, and on the north by the Hanford Site 300 Area (Figure 1). The environmental setting of the PNNL site is described in Larson and Downs (2009). There are currently two facilities on the PNNL site: the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory and the Physical Sciences Facility. This report describes the annual survey of biological resources found on the undeveloped upland portions of the PNNL site. The annual survey is comprised of a series of individual field surveys conducted on various days in late May and throughout June 2011. A brief description of the methods PNNL ecologists used to conduct the baseline surveys and a summary of the results of the surveys are presented. Appendix A provides a list of plant and animal species identified in the

Agroecological zones (AEZ's) have traditionally been defined by integrating multiple layers of biophysical (e.g. climate, soil, terrain) and occasionally socioeconomic data to create unique zones with specific ranges of land use constraints and potentials. Our approach to defining AEZ's assumes that current agricultural land uses have emerged as a consequence of biophysical and socioeconomic drivers. Therefore, we explore the concept that AEZ's can be derived from classifying the geographic distribution of current agricultural systems (e.g. the wheat-fallow cropping system zone) based on spatially geo-referenced annual cropland use data that is currently available through the National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS). By defining AEZ's in this way, we expect to: (1) provide baseline information that geographically delineates the boundaries of current AEZ's and subzones and therefore the capacity to evaluate shifts in AEZ boundaries over time; (2) assess the biophysical (e.g. climate, soils, terrain) and socioeconomic factors (e.g. commodity prices) that are most useful for predicting and correctly classifying current AEZ's, subzones or future shifts in AEZ boundaries; (3) identify and develop AEZ-relevant climate mitigation and adaptation strategies; and (4) integrate biophysical and socioeconomic data sources to pursue a transdisciplinary examination of climate-driven AEZ futures. Achieving these goals will aid in realizing major objectives for a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, Cooperative Agricultural Project entitled "Regional Approaches to Climate Change (REACCH) for PacificNorthwest Agriculture". REACCH is a research, education and extension project under the leadership of the University of Idaho with significant collaboration from Washington State University, Oregon State University and the USDA Agricultural Research Service that is working towards increasing the capacity of Inland Pacific

One potential source of the controversy over forest management in the PacificNorthwest is differences in stakeholders' conceptualizations, or perspectives, on appropriate forest management. This study explores the nature of stakeholders' perspectives and identifies some of the differences and commonalities among them. Study participants included 23 individuals from 3 forest stakeholder groups: the USDA Forest Service, timber industry, and environmentalists. Participants' perspectives on appropriate forest management were assessed using a conceptual content cognitive map (3CM) task. Results indicate the existence of a wide range of concerns including issues related to the focus, setting, and process of management. The pattern of differences and similarities among stakeholder groups with respect to these concerns was found to be complex and to deviate substantially from common stereotypes. In addition, participants' perceptions of the other stakeholder groups were found to be highly stereotypical and were not supported by the data.

The spatial and temporal characteristics of lightning activities have been studied in seven super typhoons from 2005 to 2008 over the NorthwestPacific, using data from the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN). The results indicated that there were three distinct lightning flash regions in mature typhoon, a significant maximum in the eyewall regions (20-80 km from the center), a minimum from 80-200 km, and a strong maximum in the outer rainbands (out of 200 km from the center). The lightning flashes in the outer rainbands were much more than those in the inner rainbands, and less than 1% of flashes occurred within 100 km of the center. Each typhoon produced eyewall lightning outbreak during the periods of its intensification, usually several hours prior to its maximum intensity, indicating that lightning activity might be used as a proxy of intensification of super typhoon. Little lightning occurred near the center after landing of the typhoon.

Full Text Available Premise of the study: Microsatellite primers were developed for Nootka cypress (Callitropsis nootkatensis to provide quantitative measures for gene conservation that can assist in guiding management decisions for a species experiencing climate-induced decline. Methods and Results: Using multiplexed massively parallel sequencing, we identified 136,785 microsatellite-containing sequences from 489,625 Illumina paired-end 80-bp reads. After stringent filtering, we selected 144 primer pairs and screened variation at these loci in five populations of C. nootkatensis. Loci show between three and 36 dinucleotide repeats per locus, with an average of 13. Screening of these markers in the PacificNorthwest relative Chamaecyparis lawsoniana demonstrated no marker transferability. This finding highlights the narrow taxonomic utility of microsatellite markers in Callitropsis. Conclusions: These microsatellites show high polymorphism and can be used for routine screening of natural variation in Callitropsis nootkatensis, and will be particularly helpful in identifying clones and inbred relatives at the stand-level.

Aquaculture of salmon and shrimp is discussed. Domsea Farms in the PacificNorthwest has facilities for spawning, hatching, and rearing of coho salmon for U.S. markets. Health management programs operate to keep salmon free from bacterial or viral diseases. Recent developments in technology for the intensive culture of a tropical prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) are considered. Commercial facilities in South Carolina consisting of hatchery, nursery, production, and brood stock phases are described. Designs for very intensive grow-out systems include small earthen pond units, modified Shigueno-type tanks, and aquacells. Major problem areas of commercial shrimp production are identified. (10 diagrams, 1 graph, 11 photos, numerous references)

Urban streams of the PacificNorthwest provide spawning and rearing habitat for a variety of salmon species, and food availability for developing salmon could be adversely affected by pesticide residues in these waterbodies. Sediments from Oregon and Washington streams were sampled to determine if current-use pyrethroid insecticides from residential neighborhoods were reaching aquatic habitats, and if they were at concentrations acutely toxic to sensitive invertebrates. Approximately one-third of the 35 sediment samples contained measurable pyrethroids. Bifenthrin was the pyrethroid of greatest concern with regards to aquatic life toxicity, consistent with prior studies elsewhere. Toxicity to Hyalella azteca and/or Chironomus dilutus was found in two sediment samples at standard testing temperature (23 deg. C), and in one additional sample at a more environmentally realistic temperature (13 deg. C). Given the temperature dependency of pyrethroid toxicity, low temperatures typical of northwest streams can increase the potential for toxicity above that indicated by standard testing protocols. - Highlights: > Salmon-bearing creeks can be adversely impacted by insecticides from urban runoff. > Pyrethroid insecticides were found in one-third of the creeks in Washington and Oregon. > Two creeks contained concentrations acutely lethal to sensitive invertebrates. > Bifenthrin was of greatest concern, though less than in prior studies. > Standard toxicity testing underestimates the ecological risk of pyrethroids. - Pyrethroid insecticides are present in sediments of urban creeks of Oregon and Washington, though less commonly than in studies elsewhere in the U.S.

The long-term environmental and economic sustainability of agriculture in the Inland PacificNorthwest (northern Idaho, north central Oregon, and eastern Washington) depends upon improving agricultural management, technology, and policy to enable adaptation to climate change and to help realize agriculture's potential to contribute to climate change mitigation. To address this challenge, three land-grant institutions (Oregon State University, the University of Idaho and Washington State University) (OSU, UI, WSU) and USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) units are partners in a collaborative project - Regional Approaches to Climate Change for PacificNorthwest Agriculture (REACCH-PNA). The overarching goal of REACCH is to enhance the sustainability of Inland PacificNorthwest (IPNW) cereal production systems under ongoing and projected climate change while contributing to climate change mitigation. Supporting goals include: - Develop and implement sustainable agricultural practices for cereal production within existing and projected agroecological zones throughout the region as climate changes, - Contribute to climate change mitigation through improved fertilizer, fuel, and pesticide use efficiency, increased sequestration of soil carbon, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions consistent with the 2030 targets set by the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), - Work closely with stakeholders and policymakers to promote science-based agricultural approaches to climate change adaptation and mitigation, - Increase the number of scientists, educators, and extension professionals with the skills and knowledge to address climate change and its interactions with agriculture. In this poster, we provide an overview of the specific goals of this project and activities that are underway since its inception in spring of 2011.

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the extent of land in the PacificNorthwest region of the United States (Hydro...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the amount of wet and dry deposition of reduced nitrogen in the PacificNorthwest...

The PacificNorthwest Hydrologic Landscapes (PNW HL) at the assessment unit scale has provided a solid conceptual classification framework to relate and transfer hydrologically meaningful information between watersheds without access to streamflow time series. A collection of tec...

Modelling approaches to transfer hydrologically-relevant information from locations with streamflow measurements to locations without such measurements continues to be an active field of research for hydrologists. The PacificNorthwest Hydrologic Landscapes (PNW HL) provide a sol...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the extent of arid land irrigation in the PacificNorthwest region of the United...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the amount of wet deposition of oxidized nitrogen in the PacificNorthwest region...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Temperature profile, plankton, and nutrients data were collected using buoy and CTD casts in the NorthwestPacific Ocean. Data were collected from 22 January 1998...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the amount of dry deposition of reduced nitrogen in the PacificNorthwest region...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent mean annual solar radiation in the PacificNorthwest region of the United States...

The purpose of this project was to demonstrate the ``Exposure-to- Risk`` monitoring system in an actual occupational environment. The system is a unique combination of existing hardware with proprietary software to create an integrated means of assessing occupational exposures to volatile organic compounds. One component of this system utilizes a portable mass spectrometer developed by Teledyne Electronic Technologies. Integration of the system was accomplished under Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) funding. Commercialization of the system will take place following demonstration in an actual occupational environment, and will include, in part, Teledyne Electronic Technologies. The Exposure-to-Risk monitoring system will benefit DOE by overcoming present-day limitations in worker health protection monitoring. There are numerous sites within the` DOE complex where many different hazardous chemicals are used on a routine basis. These chemicals range from paint stripers and cleaning solvents to chemical warfare agents, each having its own degree of potential adverse health risk to a worker. Thus, a real concern for DOE is to ensure that a worker is properly monitored to assess any adverse health risk from exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals. With current industrial hygiene technologies, this is an arduous task. The Exposure-to-Risk monitoring system integrates a patented breath-inlet device connecting a subject`s exhaled breath directly with a field-portable mass spectrometer with physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling to estimate the target tissue dose following a chemical exposure. Estimation of the adverse health risk prediction follows from the exposure/dose calculation based on currently accepted methodologies. This new system can determine, in the field, the possible adverse health risks on a daily basis to an individual worker.

The objectives of this project were to develop and evaluate promising low-cost dielectric and polymer-protected thin-film reflective metal coatings to be applied to preformed continuously-curved solar reflector panels to enhance their solar reflectance, and to demonstrate protected solar reflective coatings on preformed solar concentrator panels. The opportunity for this project arose from a search by United Solar Technologies (UST) for organizations and facilities capable of applying reflective coatings to large preformed panels. PNL was identified as being uniquely qualified to participate in this collaborative project.

The 1993 PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study establishes the Bonneville Power Administration`s (BPA) planning basis for supplying electricity to BPA customers. The Loads and Resources Study is presented in three documents: (1) this technical appendix detailing loads and resources for each major Pacific and Northwest generating utility, (2) a summary of Federal system and PacificNorthwest region loads and resources, and (3) a technical appendix detailing forecasted PacificNorthwest economic trends and loads. This analysis updates the 1992 PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study Technical Appendix published in December 1992. This technical appendix provides utility-specific information that BPA uses in its long-range planning. It incorporates the following for each utility (1) Electrical demand firm loads; (2) Generating resources; and (3) Contracts both inside and outside the region. This document should be used in combination with the 1993 PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study, published in December 1993, because much of the information in that document is not duplicated here.

To reduce the nation’s dependence on imported oil, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other federal and private agencies are investing in understanding catalysis. This report focuses on catalysis research conducted by PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and its collaborators. Using sophisticated instruments in DOE’s Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a national scientific user facility, research was conducted to answer key questions related to the nation’s use of automotive fuels. Research teams investigated how hydrogen can be safely stored and efficiently released, critical questions to use this alternative fuel. Further, they are answering key questions to design molecular catalysts to control the transfer of hydrogen atoms, hydrides, and protons important to hydrogen production. In dealing with today’s fuels, researchers examined adsorption of noxious nitrous oxides in automotive exhaust. Beyond automotive fuel, researchers worked on catalysts to harness solar power. These catalysts include the rutile and anatase forms of titanium dioxide. Basic research was conducted on designing catalysts for these and other applications. Our scientists examined how to build catalysts with the desired properties atom by atom and molecule by molecule. In addition, this report contains brief descriptions of the outstanding accomplishments of catalysis experts at PNNL.

In spite of near normal precipitation during the winter of water year 2015, the PacificNorthwest (PNW) has experienced drought because of insufficient snow accumulation in the mountains, which was exacerbated by an unusually warm and dry summer. Low mountain snowpack resulted from an anomalously warm winter and subsequently affected water supply for irrigation, fish habitat, ecosystem, and recreation, necessitating a statewide drought emergency declaration in the Washington State. While the 2015 drought is likely a result of natural variability superposed with climate warming, we ask how the frequency of droughts of this character are likely to change as a result of anthropogenic climate change. Downscaled climate data from multiple Global Climate Models from the Fifth Climate Model Intercomparison Project were used with the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model to calculate both the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Snow Melt and Rain Index (SMRI) indices for quantifying meteorological and snowpack droughts, respectively, in the Columbia River Basin (CRB) under historic and future climate change scenarios. Our results show that snowpack droughts increase in severity and frequency in the future in response to the sensitivity of the snowpack to warming, whereas there is a less systematic trend in meteorological drought. Water resources in the CRB largely depend on the mountain snowpack and spring snowmelt. More frequent occurrence of snowpack drought will have serious implications in this system, which need to be addressed in future studies.

A Bonneville Power Administration-funded study monitored ventilation rates and a variety of indoor air pollutants in 38 PacificNorthwest commercial buildings. The buildings ranged in age from 6 months to 90 years, in size from 864 to 34,280 m/sup 2/, and occupancy from 25 to 2500 people. Building average formaldehyde (HCHO) concentrations were below the 20 ppB detection limit in 48% of the buildings. Nitrogen dioxide (NO/sub 2/) concentration averages ranged from 5 ppB to 43 ppB and were lower than outdoor concentrations in 8 of 13 buildings. At only one site, an elementary school classroom, did carbon dioxide (CO/sub 2/) exceed 1000 ppM. Radon (Rn) levels were elevated in one building with an average concentration of 7.4 pCiL/sup -1/. Respirable particles (RSP) concentrations in smoking areas in 32 buildings had a geometric mean of 44 ..mu..g m/sup -3/ and ranged up to 308 ..mu..g m/sup -3/ at one site. In non-smoking areas the geometric mean RSP was 15 ..mu..g m/sup -3/. Outside air ventilation rates did not appear to be the single dominant parameter in determining indoor pollutant concentrations. Measured pollutant concentrations in 2 ''complaint'' buildings were below accepted guidelines. The cause of the complaints was not identified.

Studies have been conducted at Battelle, PacificNorthwest Laboratory, to examine extremely-low-frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields for possible biological effects in animals. Three areas of investigation are reported here: (1) studies on the nervous system, including behavior and neuroendocrine function, (2) experiments on cancer development in animals, and (3) measurements of currents and electric fields induced in animal models by exposure to external magnetic fields. In behavioral experiments, rats have been shown to be responsive to ELF electric field exposure. Furthermore, experimental data indicate that short-term memory may be affected in albino rats exposed to combined ELF and static magnetic fields. Neuroendocrine studies have been conducted to demonstrate an apparent stress-related response in rats exposed to 60-Hz electric fields. Nighttime pineal melatonin levels have been shown to be significantly depressed in animals exposed to either electric or magnetic fields. A number of animal tumor models are currently under investigation to examine possible relationships between ELF exposure and carcinogenesis. Finally, theoretical and experimental measurements have been performed which form the basis for animals and human exposure comparisons.

According to current literature a large region encompassing nearly the entire west half of the U.S. belongs to one dialect region referred to as Western, which furthermore, according to Labov et al., ``... has developed a characteristic but not unique phonology.'' [http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono-atlas/NationalMap/NationalMap.html] This paper will describe the vowel space of a set of PacificNorthwest American English speakers native to the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Wash. based on the acoustical analysis of high-quality Marantz CDR 300 recordings. Characteristics, such as low back merger and [u] fronting will be compared to findings by other studies. It is hoped that these recordings will contribute to a growing number of corpora of North American English dialects. All participants were born in Seattle and began their residence in Ballard between ages 0-8. They were recorded in two styles of speech: individually reading repetitions of a word list containing one token each of 10 vowels within carrier phrases, and in casual conversation for 40 min with a partner matched in age, gender, and social mobility. The goal was to create a compatible data set for comparison with current acoustic studies. F1 and F2 and vowel duration from LPC spectral analysis will be presented.

The time at which a climate variable emerges from the noise of climate variability, or "time of emergence" (ToE), is explored from a stakeholder-driven perspective. Using both global and statistically downscaled climate model output from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) and hydrologic model results, management-relevant measures of the climate and environment are analyzed for the PacificNorthwest (PNW), within the broader context of the continental United States. The specific climate variables were selected through meetings with key regional resource managers at federal, state, and local agencies, and generally relate to exceptional events in temperature, precipitation, and streamflow. Uncertainty in ToE calculations is also examined due to three sources: 1) statistical estimation of emergence 2) future emission scenarios (rcp4.5 and rcp8.5) and 3) multi-model ensemble spread. In the PNW, results show that for temperature related climate variables, ToE is likely within the next 50 years, with a strong positive trend, regardless of emission scenario. Precipitation related variables show a much later ToE, with a weak positive signal despite some model disagreement in direction of change. As this data is intended for socio-economic stakeholders in the PNW, a web tool has been designed to allow for visualizing and analyzing ToE for multiple climate variables and the associated probability statistics across the PNW domain. This information will help guide resource managers in the prioritization and timing of climate change adaption activities.

Battelle–PacificNorthwest Division operates numerous research and development (R&D) laboratories in Richland, WA, including those associated with PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Hanford Site and PNNL Site that have the potential for radionuclide air emissions. The National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP 40 CFR 61, Subparts H and I) requires an assessment of all emission units that have the potential for radionuclide air emissions. Potential emissions are assessed annually by PNNL staff members. Sampling, monitoring, and other regulatory compliance requirements are designated based upon the potential-to-emit dose criteria found in the regulations. The purpose of this document is to describe the facility radionuclide air emission sampling program and provide current and historical facility emission unit system performance, operation, and design information. For sampled systems, a description of the buildings, exhaust units, control technologies, and sample extraction details is provided for each registered emission unit. Additionally, applicable stack sampler configuration drawings, figures, and photographs are provided. Deregistered emission unit details are provided as necessary for up to 5 years post closure.

The impact of the following private colleges in the PacificNorthwest is examined: Willamette University (Salem, Oregon), Pacific University (Forest Grove, Oregon), Linfield College (McMinnville, Oregon), Lewis and Clark College (Portland, Oregon), Whitman College (Walla Walla, Washington), University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, Washington), Whitworth…

mooring observations conducted near 30°N, 146°40'E in the late 1970's. In the NorthwestPacific Basin, simulated EKE was highest at the Kuroshio Extension, and a high-EKE area extended about 500 km north and south of it.

Rivers and streams that drain from Olympic, Mount Rainier, and North Cascades National Parks are among the most protected corridors in the lower 48 States, and represent some of the largest tracts of contiguous, undisturbed habitat throughout the range of several key fish species of the PacificNorthwest. These watersheds are of high regional importance as freshwater habitat sanctuaries for native fish, where habitat conditions are characterized as having little to no disturbance from development, channelization, impervious surfaces, roads, diversions, or hydroelectric projects. Fishery resources are of high ecological and cultural importance in PacificNorthwest National Parks, and significantly contribute to economically important recreational, commercial, and tribal fisheries. This protocol describes procedures to monitor trends in fish assemblages, fish abundance, and water temperature in eight rivers and five wadeable streams in Olympic National Park during summer months, and is based on 4 years of field testing. Fish assemblages link freshwater, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems. They also serve as focal resources of national parks and are excellent indicators of ecological conditions of rivers and streams. Despite the vital importance of native anadromous and resident fish populations, there is no existing monitoring program for fish assemblages in the North Coast and Cascades Network. Specific monitoring objectives of this protocol are to determine seasonal and annual trends in: (1) fish species composition, (2) timing of migration of adult fish, (3) relative abundance, (4) age and size structure, (5) extent of non-native and hatchery fish, and (6) water temperature. To detect seasonal and annual trends in fish assemblages in reference sites, we rely on repeated and consistent annual sampling at each monitoring site. The general rationale for the repeated sampling of reference sites is to ensure that we account for the high interannual variability in fish

The PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is developing and implementing a customer satisfaction assessment program (CSAP) to assess the quality of research and development provided by the laboratory. We present the customer survey component of the PNNL CSAP. The customer survey questionnaire is composed of 2 major sections, Strategic Value and Project Performance. The Strategic Value section of the questionnaire consists of 5 questions that can be answered with a 5 point Likert scale response. These questions are designed to determine if a project is directly contributing to critical future national needs. The Project Performance section of the questionnaire consists of 9 questions that can be answered with a 5 point Likert scale response. These questions determine PNNL performance in meeting customer expectations. Many approaches could be used to analyze customer survey data. We present a statistical model that can accurately capture the random behavior of customer survey data. The properties of this statistical model can be used to establish a "gold standard'' or performance expectation for the laboratory, and then assess progress. The gold standard is defined from input from laboratory management --- answers to 4 simple questions, in terms of the information obtained from the CSAP customer survey, define the standard: *What should the average Strategic Value be for the laboratory project portfolio? *What Strategic Value interval should include most of the projects in the laboratory portfolio? *What should average Project Performance be for projects with a Strategic Value of about 2? *What should average Project Performance be for projects with a Strategic Value of about 4? We discuss how to analyze CSAP customer survey data with this model. Our discussion will include "lessons learned" and issues that can invalidate this type of assessment.

The PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is developing and implementing a customer satisfaction assessment program (CSAP) to assess the quality of research and development provided by the laboratory. This report presents the customer survey component of the PNNL CSAP. The customer survey questionnaire is composed of two major sections: Strategic Value and Project Performance. Both sections contain a set of questions that can be answered with a 5-point Likert scale response. The strategic value section consists of five questions that are designed to determine if a project directly contributes to critical future national needs. The project Performance section consists of nine questions designed to determine PNNL performance in meeting customer expectations. A statistical model for customer survey data is developed and this report discusses how to analyze the data with this model. The properties of the statistical model can be used to establish a gold standard or performance expectation for the laboratory, and then to assess progress. The gold standard is defined using laboratory management input--answers to four questions, in terms of the information obtained from the customer survey: (1) What should the average Strategic Value be for the laboratory project portfolio? (2) What Strategic Value interval should include most of the projects in the laboratory portfolio? (3) What should average Project Performance be for projects with a Strategic Value of about 2? (4) What should average Project Performance be for projects with a Strategic Value of about 4? To be able to provide meaningful answers to these questions, the PNNL customer survey will need to be fully implemented for several years, thus providing a link between management perceptions of laboratory performance and customer survey data.

, and probably into the Japan Trench as well, flows northward through the Kuril Trench, and, at least at some levels, around the northern end of the Emperor Seamount Chain to fill the long Aleutian Trench. This plus eastward flows through the Main Gap in the Emperor Seamount Chain and the passage between the Hess Rise and the Hawaiian Ridge seem to be the principal deep outflows from the NorthwestPacific Basin into the Northeast Pacific Basin. The Meiji Sediment Drift, lying along the eastern flank of the far northern Emperor Seamount Chain, is composed of material from the Bering Sea. To account for its deposition, we conjecture that the deep Kamchatka Current, presently carrying this material southward, splits at the latitude of the northernmost Emperors, one branch flowing eastward as a zonal jet, and continuing southward along the eastern flank of the Seamount Chain as a deep western-boundary current. Descriptive ambiguities and dynamical puzzles are considered.

The kinetic and thermodynamic structure of typhoon Rammasun (No. 0205) over the NorthwestPacific has been analyzed, using NOAA-16 polar orbiting Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) data collected on 2 July, 2002. The three-dimensional variational (3DVAR) assimilation technology is used to assimilate the satellite observation. The results show that the characteristics of the 3D typhoon structure can be more reasonably described from the assimilated data. The warm-cored structure of the typhoon is enhanced in the analyzed field, which corresponds to strong typhoon. The typhoon cyclonic circulation in the middle and lower layers is apparently strengthened, and the strong anticyclonic circulation appears at the top of the typhoon. The water vapor and its supply in the typhoon are enhanced. The microwave assimilation data may be used to supply the lack of the conventional observation data over the tropical ocean.

Salmon are categorized biologically into two groups: Pacific salmon or Atlantic salmon. All seven species of Pacific salmon on both sides of the North Pacific Ocean have declined substantially from historic levels, but large runs still occur in northern British Columbia, Yukon,...

Salmon are categorized biologically into two groups: Pacific salmon or Atlantic salmon. All seven species of Pacific salmon on both sides of the North Pacific Ocean have declined substantially from historic levels, but large runs still occur in northern British Columbia, Yukon,...

The businesses that have utilized PNNL's Technology Assistance Program were sent a survey to solicit feedback about the program and to determine what, if any, outcomes resulted from the assistance provided. As part of its small business outreach, PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) offers technology assistance to businesses with fewer than 500 employees throughout the nation and to businesses of any size in the 2 counties that contain the Hanford site. Upon request, up to 40 staff-hours of a researcher's time can be provided to address technology issues at no charge to the requesting firm. During FY 2011, PNNL completed assistance for 54 firms. Topics of the technology assistance covered a broad range, including environment, energy, industrial processes, medical, materials, computers and software, and sensors. In FY 2011, PNNL's Technology Assistance Program (TAP) was funded by PNNL Overheads. Over the past 16 years, the Technology Assistance Program has received total funding of nearly $2.8 million from several federal and private sources.

The origins of widespread Cenozoic tectonomagmatism in the PacificNorthwest, United States likely involve complex dynamics including subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate and mantle upwelling processes, all of which are reflected in the crust and upper mantle. To provide an improved understanding of these processes, I analyze P-to- S converted phases using the receiver function method to image topographic variations on regional seismic discontinuities in the upper mantle, which provides constraints on mantle thermal structure, and the crust-mantle interface, which provides constraints on crustal thickness and composition. My results confirm complexity in the Juan de Fuca slab structure as found by regional tomographic studies, including limited evidence of the slab penetrating the transition zone between the 410 and 660 km discontinuities. Evidence is inconclusive for a simple mantle plume beneath the central Oregon High Lava Plains, but indicates a regional increase in mantle temperatures stretching to the east. This result implies the inflow of warm material, either from around the southern edge of the Juan de Fuca plate as it descends into the mantle, or from a regional upwelling to the east related to the Yellowstone hotspot. Results for regional crustal structure reveal thin (˜31 km) crust beneath the High Lava Plains relative to surrounding regions that exhibit thicker (35+ km) crust. The thick (≥ 40 km) crust of the Owyhee Plateau has a sharp western boundary and normal Poisson's ratio, a measure of crustal composition. I find a slightly thickened crust and low Poisson's ratio between Steens Mountain and the Owyhee Plateau, consistent with residuum from source magma of the Steens flood basalts. Central and southern Oregon exhibit very high Poisson's ratios and low velocity zones within the crust, suggesting a degree of intracrustal partial melt not seen along the center of the age-progressive High Lava Plains magmatic track, perhaps due to crustal melt

Power consumption in US data centers has been escalating at an alarming rate. In response to Public Law 109-431, EPA reported that electricity usage by US data centers accounted for 1.5% of the total electricity used in the US in 2006. They projected that if current data center operating practices continue, electricity usage will almost double to 2.9% of the total electricity used in the US in 2011 (EPA, 2007). Consequently EPA issued a call to action to both government and industry to collaborate and set aggressive goals to reduce power consumption in data centers. In the spirit of responding to the findings and recommendations of the EPA report, the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has teamed with several key organizations including: The Green Grid (TGG), ASHRAE TC9.9, IBM, 3M, and SprayCool. As part of this effort, a highly instrumented liquid-cooled cluster has been installed at PNNL. The cluster is housed in an 800 ft2 data center which resides in a mixed-use data center with a significant amount of instrumentation as well. The eventual objective of the effort is to be able to report the real-time power consumption, energy efficiency, and productivity of the liquid-cooled data center. Preliminary results from the effort at PNNL are reported in this paper. Thermal results are reported for the hottest server components, including the microprocessors and memory DIMMs. Under all conditions tested, the components have not exceeded manufacturers’ specifications. More importantly, the data show that the liquid-cooled servers can be maintained within specifications while rejecting to non-chilled facility water at 78°F (25.6°C). Furthermore, a reasonable extrapolation suggests that the specifications can still be maintained at 86°F (30°C). In an effort to address global warming, work has started on the qualification of a new 3M Fluoroketone fluid that has a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 1. This GWP is the lowest published value of all commercially

Massive coral skeletal growth parameters (skeletal density, extension and calcification rate) are one of the indexes of coral health and ecological response to the ambient environmental changes such as ocean acidification (OA) and global warming. To predict and evaluate the influence of the environment changes to the coral skeletal growth, the coral skeletal growth model (CGM) is one of the useful tools. The CGM is one of the equations consisted of the coral skeletal parameters as response variables and physical or chemical environmental factor such as sea surface temperature (SST), pH, insolation and so on as explanatory variables. The constructing of CGM is equal to the forming the equation and deciding its coefficients. However, there are no universal coral growth models. The aim of our study is to construct the GCM. It is important to analyze coral growth parameters in the past natural condition by using core of massive coral skeleton for our study. In the natural condition, high-latitude area is the best place to evaluate the influence of OA to coral skeletal growth because OA influence ocean organisms from high-latitude area where predicted to affected due to low SST and low carbonate saturation levels induced by dissolved atmospheric CO2 to the sea compared to tropical-subtropical area.This study shows recent temperate coral growth parameters collected from Kagoshima (c.a. 60years), Kochi (c.a. 25 years) and Wakayama (c.a. 30 years) in North-westPacific, Japan and discusses the universal coral growth model. We quantified the coral growth parameters with uncertainty for the first time. The chronology was developed by δ 18O variant of coral skeletons making sure the forming time of high-low skeletal density area. To evaluate influence of annual SST, precipitation and insolation to coral calcification rate in the natural condition, we performed the regression tree and multiple regression models analysis. As the results, there were non-significances between

This is a report of the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory's (PacificNorthwest's) FY1999 Annual Self-Evaluation Report. This report summarizes our progress toward accomplishment of the critical outcomes, objectives, and performance indicators as delineated in the FY1999 Performance Evaluation & Fee Agreement. It also summarizes our analysis of the results of PacificNorthwest's Division and Directorate annual self-assessments, and the implementation of our key operational improvement initiatives. Together, these provide an indication of how well we have used our Integrated Assessment processes to identify and plan improvements for FY2000. As you review the report you will find areas of significantly positive progress; you will also note areas where I believe the Laboratory could make improvements. Overall, however, I believe you will be quite pleased to note that we have maintained, or exceeded, the high standards of performance we have set for the Laboratory.

The 1994 PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study establishes the Bonneville Power Administration`s (BPA) planning basis for supplying electricity t6 BPA customers. The Loads and Resources Study is presented in two documents: (1) this technical appendix detailing loads and resources for each major PacificNorthwest generating utility; and (2) a summary of Federal system and PacificNorthwest region loads and resources. This analysis updates the 1993 PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study Technical Appendix published in December 1993. This technical appendix provides utility specific information that BPA uses in its long-range planning. It incorporates the following for each utility: (1) electrical demand-firm loads; (2) generating resources; and (3) contracts both inside and outside the region. This document should be used in combination with the 1994 PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study, published in December 1994, because much of the information in that document is not duplicated here. This BPA planning document incorporates PacificNorthwest generating resources and the 1994 medium load forecast prepared by BPA. Each utility`s forecasted future firm loads are subtracted from its existing resources to determine whether it will be surplus or deficit. If a utility`s resources are greater than loads in any particular year or month, there is a surplus of energy and/or capacity, which the utility can sell to increase revenues. Conversely, if its firm loads exceed available resources, there is a deficit of energy and/or capacity, and additional conservation, contract purchases, or generating resources will be needed to meet the utility`s load.

This publication provides detailed documentation of the load forecast scenarios and assumptions used in preparing BPA's 1991 PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study (the Study). This is one of two technical appendices to the Study; the other appendix details the utility-specific loads and resources used in the Study. The load forecasts and assumption were developed jointly by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and Northwest Power Planning Council (Council) staff. This forecast is also used in the Council's 1991 Northwest Conservation and Electric Power Plan (1991 Plan).

For decades, softwood log exports were an important component of international wood products trade from the PacificNorthwest (PNW) region of the United States. Log exports to the Pacific Rim began in earnest after the Columbus Day Storm of 1962 generated billions of board feet of salvaged timber. This market was maintained and expanded owing to Japanâs demand for high...

Forest management practices on Federal lands in the PacificNorthwest of the United States have been the center of intense controversy. Conflicting value systems, new information, and new perspectives have fueled the debate over the balance between timber production and preservation of natural ecosystems. In this paper we consider examples from three aspects of forest management: (1) management of forest stands, (2) management of the patchwork of forest stands at the landscape scale, and (3) management of streams and riparian networks. In each of these cases we examine: management practices and perspectives of the recent past, findings from ecosystem research that are leading to change in those practices, resulting changes in management practices, and future research directions. We also suggest a path for future change, including systems for managing in the face of uncertainty. Results of research in natural and managed forest and stream ecosystems have been pivotal in reassessment and redesign of management practices to provide a broader range of management options for society to consider. Results of studies of natural disturbance processes and their effects are used as reference points for management systems intending to sustain biological diversity and ecosystem productivity. Stand management practices, for example, are being modified to retain some live trees and greater amounts of dead woody debris, both standing and down, in areas that would instead be clear-cut under intensive plantation forestry practices. The motivations for these modified practices are to sustain biological diversity, including key wildlife species, and to maintain soil productivity. Models of alternative forest-cutting patterns at a landscape scale are being used to examine their effects on ecosystem structure and function. One result of this analysis has been to shift from the previous system of dispersing cutting units to a system involving greater aggregation of units using designs to

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for SOCKEYE SALMON contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for FALL CHINOOK contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear event...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for CHUM SALMON contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear event...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for SUMMER STEELHEAD contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for REDBAND TROUT contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for BULL TROUT contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear event...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for WESTSLOPE CUTTHROAT TROUT contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for COHO SALMON contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear event...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for SUMMER CHINOOK contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for WHITE STURGEON contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for SPRING CHINOOK contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for YELLOWSTONE CUTTHROAT TROUT contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent populations that did not have access to municipal sewer service in the Pacific...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for LAHONTAN CUTTHROAT TROUT contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for PINK SALMON contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear event...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for WINTER STEELHEAD contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for RAINBOW TROUT contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for BROOK TROUT contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear event...

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This dataset is a record of fish distribution and activity for BROWN TROUT contained in the StreamNet database. This feature class was created based on linear event...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the extent of non-road developed land in the PacificNorthwest region of the...

The brine shrimp (Artemia salina) bioassay was used to screen 211 methanol extracts from 128 species of PacificNorthwest plants in search of general cytotoxic activity. Strong toxicity (LC50 1000 µg/ml). Our subsequent studies of conifer heartwoods with strong activity confirm the assay's value for identifying new investigational leads for materials with insecticidal and fungicidal activity.

Throughout the PacificNorthwest, since 1850, all wild salmon runs have declined and some have disappeared. Billions of dollars have been spent in a so-far failed attempt to reverse the long-term decline. Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars continue to be spent in variou...

Throughout the PacificNorthwest, since 1850, all wild salmon runs have declined and some have disappeared. Billions of dollars have been spent in a so-far failed attempt to reverse the long-term decline. Each year, hundreds of millions of dollars continue to be spent in variou...

Soil organisms play essential roles in forest health, and truffle fungi are one of the more fascinating groups of these important organisms. After 40 years of specimen collection and study, scientists with PacificNorthwest Research Station have published a report documenting how truffle fungi affect tree survival and growth, perform valuable functions in nutrient...

Animal damage to conifers is a timely topic in the PacificNorthwest. Foresters in this Region are increasingly concerned and perplexed by damage caused by animals to natural and planted seedlings and larger growing stock. Nearly every animal inhabiting for st land is believed to injure seedlings and small trees to some degree. Mice girdle small trees, and bears girdle...

Although benthic marine algae are essential components of marine coastal systems that have been influenced profoundly by past and present climate change, our knowledge of seaweed phylogeography is limited. The brown alga Ishige okamurae Yendo occurs in the northwestPacific, where it occupies a char

This study focused on faculty perceptions of organizational culture and collegiality at denominationally affiliated Christian colleges and universities in the PacificNorthwest. It was found that while faculty members perceive tension around their experience of organizational culture, the extent of their relationships as cultivated through formal…

This report chronicles a large-scale effort to map place values across the PacificNorthwest Region (Washington and Oregon) of the U.S. Forest Service. Through workshops held with Forest Service staff, 485 socioculturally meaningful places were identified. Staff also generated corresponding descriptions of the placesâ unique social and biophysical elementsâin other...

This cleanup verification package documents completion of remedial action for the 100-F-20, PacificNorthwest Laboratory Parallel Pits waste site. This waste site consisted of two earthen trenches thought to have received both radioactive and nonradioactive material related to the 100-F Experimental Animal Farm.

The objective of this study was to develop and test a rapid, cost-effective method of mapping the intertidal (and surface-visible subtidal) distribution of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) meadows and patches in the turbid coastal estuaries of the PacificNorthwest (PNW). Initial co...

This annotated bibliography of published literature provides a comprehensive source of information on animal damage assessment and management for forest land managers and others in the PacificNorthwest. Citations and abstracts from more than 900 papers are indexed by subject and author. The publication complements and supplements A Silvicultural Approach to...

The objective of this study was to develop and test a rapid, cost-effective method of mapping the intertidal (and surface-visible subtidal) distribution of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) meadows and patches in the turbid coastal estuaries of the PacificNorthwest (PNW). Initial co...

Although benthic marine algae are essential components of marine coastal systems that have been influenced profoundly by past and present climate change, our knowledge of seaweed phylogeography is limited. The brown alga Ishige okamurae Yendo occurs in the northwestPacific, where it occupies a char

In the PacificNorthwest of the United States, it is urgent to assess accurately the various options proposed to restore wild salmon. For the past 125 years, a variety of analytic approaches have been employed to assess the ecological consequences of salmon management options. ...

The amphibian and reptile fauna of older forest ecosystems in the PacificNorthwest includes several endemic species, species with unique behavioral and ecological characteristics, and species whose populations have been in decline in recent years. We review the biology of these species and include information on their distinguishing characteristics, behavior, and...

Leonard K. Peters, vice provost for research at Virginia Tech, will become Battelle senior vice president and director of the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. The announcement was issued at time today by Carl Kohrt, CEO of Battelle. Peters assumes his new position on April 1.

Floods are the most frequent natural disaster, causing more loss of life and property than any other in the USA. Floods also strongly influence the structure and function of watersheds, stream channels, and aquatic ecosystems. The PacificNorthwest is particularly vulnerable to climatically driven changes in flood frequency and magnitude, because snowpacks that...

Case study describes PacificNorthwest National Laboratory's (PNNL) three-month Rock the Watt campaign to reduce energy use at its main campus in Richland, Washington. The campaign objectives were to educate PNNL employees about energy conservation opportunities in their workplace and to motivate them to help PNNL save energy and costs and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Forests of the PacificNorthwest have been an epicenter for the evolution of truffle fungi with over 350 truffle species and 55 genera currently identified. Truffle fungi develop their reproductive fruit-bodies typically belowground, so they are harder to find and study than mushrooms that fruit aboveground. Nevertheless, over the last five decades, the Corvallis...

The Regional Approaches to Climate Change for PacificNorthwest Agriculture (REACCH PNA) is a five-year USDA/NIFA-funded coordinated agriculture project to examine the sustainability of cereal crop production systems in the PacificNorthwest, in relationship to ongoing climate change. As part of this effort, an extensive data management system has been developed to enable researchers, students, and the public, to upload, manage, and analyze various data. The REACCH PNA data management team has developed three core systems to encompass cyberinfrastructure and data management needs: 1) the reacchpna.org portal (https://www.reacchpna.org) is the entry point for all public and secure information, with secure access by REACCH PNA members for data analysis, uploading, and informational review; 2) the REACCH PNA Data Repository is a replicated, redundant database server environment that allows for file and database storage and access to all core data; and 3) the REACCH PNA Libraries which are functional groupings of data for REACCH PNA members and the public, based on their access level. These libraries are accessible thru our https://www.reacchpna.org portal. The developed system is structured in a virtual server environment (data, applications, web) that includes a geospatial database/geospatial web server for web mapping services (ArcGIS Server), use of ESRI's Geoportal Server for data discovery and metadata management (under the ISO 19115-2 standard), Thematic Realtime Environmental Distributed Data Services (THREDDS) for data cataloging, and Interactive Python notebook server (IPython) technology for data analysis. REACCH systems are housed and maintained by the Northwest Knowledge Network project (www.northwestknowledge.net), which provides data management services to support research. Initial project data harvesting and meta-tagging efforts have resulted in the interrogation and loading of over 10 terabytes of climate model output, regional entomological data

The PacificNorthwest Loads and Resources Study (WhiteBook), is published annually by BPA, and establishes the planning basis for supplying electricity to customers. It serves a dual purpose. First, the White Book presents projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. Second, the White Book serves as a benchmark for annual BPA determinations made pursuant to the 1981 regional power sales contracts. Specifically, BPA uses the, information in the White Book for determining the notice required when customers request to increase or decrease the amount of power purchased from BPA. Aside from these purposes, the White Book is used for input to BPA`s resource planning process. The White Book compiles information obtained from several formalized resource planning reports and data submittals, including those from the Northwest Power Planning Council (Council) and the PacificNorthwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC).

The PacificNorthWest Economic Region, a statutory organization chartered by the Northwest states of Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, and the western Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and the Yukon through its Energy Working Group launched a bi-national energy planning initiative designed to create a PacificNorthwest energy planning council of regional public/private stakeholders from both Canada and the US. There is an urgent need to deal with the comprehensive energy picture now before our hoped for economic recovery results in energy price spikes which are likely to happen because the current supply will not meet predicted demand. Also recent events of August 14th have shown that our bi-national energy grid system is intricately interdependent, and additional planning for future capacity is desperately needed.

Information in this report on the staff exchange of PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) staff with the AIGER Consortium (General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Navistar, the environmental protection Agency, and the California Air Resources Board) includes the purpose and objectives, a summary of activities, significant accomplishments, significant problems, industry benefits realized, recommended follow-on work and potential benefits from that work, and two appendices. Appendix A is a brief description of the fast gas chromatography and infrared spectroscopy chemometric technologies and their application to the rapid characterization of automobile exhaust emissions. Appendix B is a list of key contacts and the schedule of activities pertaining to the staff exchange.

Part 4 of the PacificNorthwest Laboratory Annual Report for 1983 to the Office of Energy Research, includes those programs funded under the title Physical and Technological Research. The Field Task Program Studies reports in this document are grouped under the subheadings and each section is introduced by a divider page that indicates the Field Task Agreement reported in that section. These reports only briefly indicate progress made during 1983. The reader should contact the principal investigators named or examine the publications cited for more details.

Part 4 of the PacificNorthwest Laboratory Annual Report for 1985 to the DOE Office of Energy Research includes those programs funded under the title ''Physical and Technological Research.'' The Field Task Program Studies reports in this document are grouped by budget category and each section is introduced by an abstract that indicates the Field Task Proposal/Agreement reported in that section. These reports only briefly indicate progress made during 1985. The reader should contact the principal investigators named or examine the publications cited for more details.

This 1987 annual report from PacificNorthwest Laboratory describes research in environment, health, and safety conducted during fiscal year 1987. The report again consists of five parts, each in a separate volume. Part 4 includes those programs funded under the title ''Physical and Technological Research.'' The Field Task Program Studies reports in this document are grouped by budget category and each section is introduced by an abstract that indicates the Field Task Proposal/Agreement reported in that section.

This 1993 Annual Report from PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) to the US DOE describes research in environment and health conducted during fiscal year (FY) 1993. The report is divided into four parts, each in a separate volume. This part, Volume 2, covers Environmental Sciences. The research is directed toward developing a fundamental understanding of subsurface and terrestrial systems as a basis for both managing these critical resources and addressing environmental problems such as environmental restoration and global change. There are sections on Subsurface Science, Terrestrial Science, Technology Transfer, Interactions with Educational Institutions, and Laboratory Directed Research and Development.

This 1986 annual report from PacificNorthwest Laboratory describes research in environment, health, and safety conducted during fiscal year 1986. The report again consists of five parts, each in a separate volume. Part 4 includes those programs funded under the title ''Physical and Technological Research.'' The Field Task Program Studies reports in this document are grouped by budget category and each section is introduced by an abstract that indicates the Field Task Proposal/Agreement reported in that section. These reports only briefly indicate progress made during 1985.

The purpose was to research low capital cost salmon and steelhead trout production facilities and identify those that conform with management goals for the Columbia Basin. The species considered were chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), sockeye salmon (O. nerka), and steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri). This report provides a comprehensive listing of the facilities, techniques, and equipment used in artificial production in the PacificNorthwest. (ACR)

This report summarizes progress in the environmental sciences research conducted by PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) for the Office of Health and Environment Research in FY 1990. Research is directed toward developing the knowledge needed to guide government policy and technology development for two important environmental problems: environmental restoration and global change. The report is organized by major research areas contributing to resolution of these problems. Additional sections summarize exploratory research, educational institutional interactions, technology transfer, and publications. The PNL research program continues make contributions toward defining and quantifying processes that effect the environment at the local, regional, and global levels. Each research project forms a component in an integrated laboratory, intermediate-scale, and field approach designed to examine multiple phenomena at increasing levels of complexity. This approach is providing system-level insights into critical environmental processes. University liaisons continue to be expanded to strengthen the research and to use PNL resources to train the scientists needed to address long-term environmental problems.

Temperature has a profound effect on survival and ecology of amphibians. In the PacificNorthwest, timber harvest is known to increase peak stream temperatures to 24??C or higher, which has potential to negatively impact cold-water stream amphibians. I determined the Critical Thermal Maxima (CT max) for two salamanders that are endemic to the PacificNorthwest. Rhyacotriton variegatus larvae acclimated at 10??C had mean CTmax of 26.7 ?? 0.7 SD??C and adults acclimated at 11??C had mean CT max of 27.9 ?? 1.1??C. These were among the lowest known values for any amphibian. Values were significantly higher for larval Dicamptodon tenebrosus acclimated at 14??C (x = 29.1 ?? 0.2??C). Although the smallest R. variegatus had some of the lowest values, size of larvae and adults did not influence CTmax in this species. Current forest practices retain riparian buffers along larger fish-bearing streams; however, such buffers along smaller headwaters and non-fish bearing streams may provide favorable habitat conditions for coldwater-associated species in the PacificNorthwest. The current study lends further evidence to the need for protection of Northwest stream amphibians from environmental perturbations. Forest guidelines that include riparian buffer zones and configurations of upland stands should be developed, while monitoring amphibian responses to determine their success. ?? 2008 Brill Academic Publishers.

High-resolution tomographic images across Japan Trenh-Changhai Mountains-lDong Ujimqinqi are displayed, showing the morphological feature of the subducted slab in the norhwestem Pacific margin and the eharaeter istics of lithosphere stmctures under the Changhai Mountains and the Da Hinggan Mnuntains. The Pacific plate began to penetrate into the deeper mantle after it subducted to the 660 km discontinuity with an underthmsting angle of 26°, but did not continue to mnve furrther westward. In contrast, there appeared a remarkable thermal upwelling zone to the west of the downward plate. In addition, the evidence frnm the subduction time and time lag between the subduetion and eon sequent magmatism indicates that there is no direct genetic correlatiom between the Mesoznic magmatism in eastern China ami subduction of the Pacific plate. In this work. we also emphasize that what the tomographic images reflect is the pre sent structure in the deep earth interior, which should preserve some Mesozoic lithospheric structure characteristics. In summary, we attribute the Mesozoic intense magmatic evolution in north China to the intraplate asthenosphere upwelling zone.

US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior — A revised version of the study designed to determine the effects of organochlorine pollutants on back-crowned night herons nesting in the PacificNorthwest and to...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the amount of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in the PacificNorthwest region of...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent mean annual solar radiation in the PacificNorthwest region of the United States...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the area of arid land irrigation in the PacificNorthwest region of the United...

Stream-riparian areas represent a nexus of biodiversity, with disproportionate numbers of species tied to and interacting within this key habitat. New research in PacificNorthwest headwater forests, especially the characterization of microclimates and amphibian distributions, is...

Construction of a stabilized rammed earth wall (SRE), which consists of a mixture of unwashed, unscreened sandy aggregate and cement, reinforced with bamboo and insulated with vermiculite or foam board, was described, and its performance reviewed. Although not popular in Canada in general, rammed earth wall construction is being used for custom homes in British Columbia`s Gulf Islands. France and Australia are also active in the development of rammed earth wall technologies. The base SRE house is 1500 sq ft, single storey slab-on grade, with the long axis oriented east-west. SRE houses have a very long life expectancy, (estimated 100 to 1,000 years). There are no exterior or interior surfaces to be painted, or replaced. The material is highly resistant to mechanical damage. Construction cost is higher than frame wall construction, but maintenance cost, space heating energy cost, environmental impact cost, and local economic benefit are all greater than traditional frame construction (the latter because of the high labour requirement and high local materials component). Insulated rammed earth wall construction is considered to be a technically sound exterior wall system, especially in the milder climate of the PacificNorthwest. Because of the higher thermal mass, a greater passive solar contribution is also expected from a rammed earth house.

The PacificNorthwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act was enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America. It was enacted to assist the electrical consumers of the PacificNorthwest through use of the Federal columbia River Power System to achieve cost-effective energy conservation, to encourage the development of renewable energy resources, to establish a representative regional power planning process, to assure the region of an efficient and adequate power supply, and for other purposes. Contents of the Act are: short title and table of contents; purposes; definitions; regional planning and participation; sale of power; conservation and resource acquisition; rates; amendments to existing law; administrative provisions; savings provisions; effective date; and severability.

Suicide rates among Indian youth in the United States are two to three times the national average. Although researchers have identified related risk and protective factors, they have limited understanding of the perspectives of youth at risk. In this descriptive, ethnographic study in a PacificNorthwest tribe, the goal was to gain an understanding of the life experiences of the youth. Focus groups and observations were conducted with 30 Indian youth aged between 14 and 19 years in a PacificNorthwest tribe. Youth were asked to talk about their stressors, sense of family/community support, and hopes for the future. Youth reported major stress and noted that friends and family were both a support and also a source of stress. They hoped for strengthening of cultural values, economic development, and opportunities to give their talents to the tribe. These findings provide further insight about suicide risk among Indian youth and advance the understanding of suicide prevention in a transcultural setting.

Using the tropical cyclone (TC) data derived from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and the sea surface temperature data derived from the Joint Environmental Data Analysis Center (JEDAC) at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography from January 1955 to December 2000, we analyzed the relationship between the TC genesis over the NorthwestPacific (NWP) and the sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) over the Pacific basin. A long-term trend indicated that the highest frequency of monthly TC genesis appeared earlier and the annual genesis sum increased gradually during the last half century with some oscillations. No significant synchronous correlation was found between the NWP TC events and the SSTA over the Pacific basin, while the annual sum of TC genesis was closely related with the SSTA averaged from the first three months (January, February and March) of the year in the equatorial western and eastern Pacific and over mid-high latitudes of the North Pacific. The results implied that there are an interannual El Ni(n)o SSTA mode in the equatorial western and eastern Pacific and an interdecadal SSTA mode in the northern Pacific, which affected the TC genesis. A regression analysis between the first three-month SSTA and the annual TC sum based on two time scales was conducted. The correlation coefficient between simulated and observed TC sums reached a high value of 0.77.

This guide provides a step-by-step description of the methodology used to apply the Forest Tree Genetic Risk Assessment System (ForGRAS; Potter and Crane 2010) to the tree species of the PacificNorthwest in a recent climate change vulnerability assessment (Devine et al. 2012). We describe our modified version of the ForGRAS model, and we review the modelâs basic...

This safety evaluation for packaging (SEP) evaluates and documents the safe onsite transport of eight high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters in the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory HEPA Filter Box from the 300 Area of the Hanford Site to the Central Waste Complex and on to burial in the 200 West Area. Use of this SEP is authorized for 1 year from the date of release.

Papers presented at the conference are published in this volume. The purpose of the conference was to solicit regional cooperation in the promoting of near-term development of such alternative and renewable energy resources in the PacificNorthwest as: cogeneration; biomass; wind; small hydro; solar end-use applications; and geothermal direct heat utilization. Separate abstracts of selected papers were prepared for inclusion in the Energy Data Base.

Tabulations are presented of responses to approximately 105 questions. Results are tabulated by 9 geographic regions: the four states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington; four climate zones in the region; and a weighted PacificNorthwest total. A description of the tabulated data is given in the Introduction. Tabulated data deal with questions on dwelling characteristics; heating and air-conditioning systems; water heating; appliances; demographic and swelling characteristics; and insulation.

A strategy is presented for averting the short-term energy supply uncertainties that undermine prospects for stable economic development in the PacificNorthwest. This strategy is based on: an analysis of the present electric power consumption by various end-use sectors; comparison of incentives to promote energy conservation and lower demand growth; analysis of alternatives to current dependency on hydro power; and a study of the cost of planning and implementing future power supply programs. (LCL)

The 1992 Annual Report from PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) to the US Department of Energy (DOE) describes research in environment and health conducted during fiscal year 1992. This report consists of four volumes oriented to particular segments of the PNL program, describing research performed for the DOE Office of Health and Environmental Research in the Office of Energy Research. The parts of the 1992 Annual Report are: Biomedical Sciences; Environmental Sciences; Atmospheric Sciences; and Physical Sciences. This Report is Part II: Environmental Sciences. Included in this report are developments in Subsurface Science, Terrestrial Science, Laboratory-Directed Research and Development, Interactions with Educational Institutions, Technology Transfer, Publications, and Presentations. The research is directed toward developing a fundamental understanding of subsurface and terrestrial systems as a basis for both managing these critical resources and addressing environmental problems such as environmental restoration and global change. The Technology Transfer section of this report describes a number of examples in which fundamental research is laying the groundwork for the technology needed to resolve important environmental problems. The Interactions with Educational Institutions section of the report illustrates the results of a long-term, proactive program to make PNL facilities available for university and preuniversity education and to involve educational institutions in research programs. The areas under investigation include the effect of geochemical and physical phenomena on the diversity and function of microorganisms in deep subsurface environments, ways to address subsurface heterogeneity, and ways to determine the key biochemical and physiological pathways (and DNA markers) that control nutrient, water, and energy dynamics in arid ecosystems and the response of these systems to disturbance and climatic change.

The National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service manage areas in the states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington – collectively referred to in this report as the PacificNorthwest - that contain significant natural resources and provide many recreational opportunities. The agencies are mandated to protect the air quality and air pollution-sensitive resources on these federal lands. Human activity has greatly increased the amount of nitrogen emitted to the atmosphere, resulting in elevated amounts of nitrogen being deposited in park and forest ecosystems. There is limited information in the PacificNorthwest about the levels of nitrogen that negatively affect natural systems, i.e., the critical loads. The National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service, with scientific input from the U.S. Geological Survey, have developed an approach for accumulating additional nitrogen critical loads information in the PacificNorthwest and using the data in planning and regulatory arenas. As a first step in that process, this report summarizes the current state of knowledge about nitrogen deposition, effects, and critical loads in the region. It also describes ongoing research efforts and identifies and prioritizes additional data needs.

Full Text Available A recent emergence of Cryptococcus gattii in the PacificNorthwest involves strains that fall into three primarily clonal molecular subtypes: VGIIa, VGIIb and VGIIc. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST and variable number tandem repeat analysis appear to identify little diversity within these molecular subtypes. Given the apparent expansion of these subtypes into new geographic areas and their ability to cause disease in immunocompetent individuals, differentiation of isolates belonging to these subtypes could be very important from a public health perspective. We used whole genome sequence typing (WGST to perform fine-scale phylogenetic analysis on 20 C. gattii isolates, 18 of which are from the VGII molecular type largely responsible for the PacificNorthwest emergence. Analysis both including and excluding (289,586 SNPs and 56,845 SNPs, respectively molecular types VGI and VGIII isolates resulted in phylogenetic reconstructions consistent, for the most part, with MLST analysis but with far greater resolution among isolates. The WGST analysis presented here resulted in identification of over 100 SNPs among eight VGIIc isolates as well as unique genotypes for each of the VGIIa, VGIIb and VGIIc isolates. Similar levels of genetic diversity were found within each of the molecular subtype isolates, despite the fact that the VGIIb clade is thought to have emerged much earlier. The analysis presented here is the first multi-genome WGST study to focus on the C. gattii molecular subtypes involved in the PacificNorthwest emergence and describes the tools that will further our understanding of this emerging pathogen.

Although there is considerable energy focused on assessing natural hazards associated with earthquakes and tsunamis in the U.S. PacificNorthwest, little has been done to understand societal vulnerability to these hazards. Part of understanding societal vulnerability includes assessing the perceptions and priorities of public sector individuals with traditional emergency management responsibilities and of private citizens who could play key roles in community recovery. In response to this knowledge gap, we examine earthquake and tsunami perceptions of stakeholders and decision makers from coastal communities in the U.S. PacificNorthwest, focusing on perceptions of (1) regional hazards and societal vulnerability, (2) the current state of readiness, and (3) priorities for future hazard adjustment efforts. Results of a mailed survey suggest that survey participants believe that earthquakes and tsunamis are credible community threats. Most communities are focusing on regional mitigation and response planning, with less effort devoted to recovery plans or to making individual organizations more resilient. Significant differences in expressed perceptions and priorities were observed between Oregon and Washington respondents, mainly on tsunami issues. Significant perception differences were also observed between private and public sector respondents. Our results suggest the need for further research and for outreach and planning initiatives in the PacificNorthwest to address significant gaps in earthquake and tsunami hazard awareness and readiness.

We present a 6,000-yr record of changing water balance in the PacificNorthwest inferred from measurements of carbonate δ(18)O and grayscale on a sediment core collected from Castor Lake, Washington. This subdecadally resolved drought record tracks the 1,500-yr tree-ring-based Palmer Drought Severity Index reconstructions of Cook et al. [Cook ER, Woodhouse CA, Eakin CM, Meko DM, Stahle DW (2004) Science 306:1015-1018] in the PacificNorthwest and extends our knowledge back to 6,000 yr B.P. The results demonstrate that low-frequency drought/pluvial cycles, with occasional long-duration, multidecadal events, are a persistent feature of regional climate. Furthermore, the average duration of multidecadal wet/dry cycles has increased since the middle Holocene, which has acted to increase the amplitude and impact of these events. This is especially apparent during the last 1,000 yr. We suggest these transitions were driven by changes in the tropical and extratropical Pacific and are related to apparent intensification of the El Niño Southern Oscillation over this interval and its related effects on the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. The Castor Lake record also corroborates the notion that the 20th century, prior to recent aridity, was a relatively wet period compared to the last 6,000 yr. Our findings suggest that the hydroclimate response in the PacificNorthwest to future warming will be intimately tied to the impact of warming on the El Niño Southern Oscillation.

Over the past ten years, UNAVCO has developed a suite of learning materials for formal undergraduate and grades 6-12 classroom environments, integrating GPS data from the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) to explore Earth science processes. To make complex Earth processes accessible to general audiences, UNAVCO has designed a multi-component visiting museum exhibit that explores the tectonic setting of the United States PacificNorthwest, hazards of living on a plate boundary, and the technologies being used to study the plate motion and in the future, help communities become more resilient to the impacts of earthquakes. This exhibit was installed in Fall 2013 at the Oregon State University (OSU) Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) in Newport, Oregon. Through multiple hands-on elements, visitors to the HMSC exhibit explore and experience the build up and release of strain in the region, along with some of the technologies used to measure these changes. In one component, visitors compress a model of the PacificNorthwest to feel the build up of strain in the landscape and observe the movement of land over time. Supporting panels connect this movement to the measurements currently being observed by the network of PBO and other GPS stations in the PacificNorthwest. In another component, visitors learn about the recurrence interval for earthquakes at the Juan De Fuca - North America plate boundary by turning a handle to slowly move and compress plates until a simulated earthquake occurs. A related component explores how an earthquake early warning system (EEWS) of the future might combine seismic data collected by both seismometers and real time GPS to allow people and communities time to prepare for oncoming ground shaking and tsunami after an earthquake. Several technologies are also highlighted throughout the exhibit, including information panels that compare the accuracy of high precision GPS with smartphone technologies. Additionally, models of a full

A map of recent vertical crustal motion has been compiled for coastal Washington and southwest British Columbia. Average velocities over the past 80 years were determined by least squares adjustment of repeated precise levelings and mean sea-level observations from 21 tide gauges. Annual variations in mean sea level were determined directly within the adjustment model under the assumption that they were identical at all tide gauges in a given year. The derived vertical velocities range from -2.0±0.9 mm/yr near Seattle, to 2.5±0.8 mm/yr at the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula, and over 3 mm/yr in the region to the north of Campbell River on Vancouver Island. Determination of a constant velocity in this latter region is complicated by about 10 cm of coseismic subsidence associated with a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in 1946, and an apparent increase in uplift rate over the past decade. Qualitatively, the regional velocity pattern is consistent with features of the current plate convergence model: 1) the rapid uplift of the region north of central Vancouver Island is consistent with the overriding of the young (Explorer Plate which may be underplating the coastal margin in this area; and 2) the ridge of uplift extending from the Neah Bay area north across Vancouver Island to Campbell River is consistent with a pattern expected from a locked subduction zone underlying this coastal region. The large-scale subsidence to the southwest of Puget Sound is more difficult to explain in the context of plate convergence.

This report summarizes progress on OHER biomedical and health-effects research conducted at PacificNorthwest Laboratory in FY 1987. The research develops the knowledge and scientific principles necessary to identify, understand, and anticipate the long-term health consequences of energy-related radiation and chemicals. Our continuing emphasis is to decrease the uncertainty of health-effects risk estimates from existing and/or developing energy-related technologies through an increased understanding of how radiation and chemicals cause health effects. The report is arranged to reflect PNL research relative to OHER programmatic structure. The first section, on human health effects, concerns statistical and epidemiological studies for assessing health risks. The next section, which contains reports of health-effects research in biological systems, includes research with radiation and chemicals. The last section is related to medical applications of nuclear technology.

Across the globe, continued policy debates regarding the management of old-growth forests center around the difficult task of balancing economic and ecological considerations. Though the forests of the PacificNorthwest United States are among the most studied old-growth ecosystems, ecological and economic analyses have yielded public land management directives that remain controversial. Specifically, the recently adopted Northwest Forest Plan lacks explicit goals for maintaining intergenerational equity for the use of forest resources and the diversity of old-growth ecosystems. Unlike previous studies which rely on monetary quantification of costs and benefits, this study develops and applies a conceptual framework for evaluating socially optimal PacificNorthwest old-growth forest utilization strategies. Conditions for the optimal management of old-growth forests are derived using dynamic programming. The objective function synthesizes relevant biological and economic attributes of the old-growth allocation problem. Results in the form of extraction paths are compared given social pressure for consumptive and non-consumptive benefits, as well as different planning horizons, rates of social time preference, and environmental variance. Lengthening the planning horizon results in a vast divergence of optimal policies in the absence of discounting. Extraction rates appear to approach zero as the planning horizon approaches infinity. While higher rates of social time preference increase the rate of extraction, forest stocks remaining at the terminal time period equal levels remaining with a lower discount rate. Increasing environmental variance results in a higher level of stock remaining at the terminal time period. This analysis, while specific to the old-growth controversy of the PacificNorthwest, does provide general guidelines for addressing similar problems of multiple uses of natural areas, particularly where such uses are mutually incompatible, or where one

White sharks are highly migratory apex predators, globally distributed in temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical waters. Knowledge of white shark biology and ecology has increased recently based on research at known aggregation sites in the Indian, Atlantic, and Northeast Pacific Oceans; however, few data are available for the NorthwestPacific Ocean. This study provides a meta-analysis of 240 observations of white sharks from the NorthwestPacific Ocean between 1951 and 2012. Records comprise reports of bycatch in commercial fisheries, media accounts, personal communications, and documentation of shark-human interactions from Russia (n = 8), Republic of Korea (22), Japan (129), China (32), Taiwan (45), Philippines (1) and Vietnam (3). Observations occurred in all months, excluding October-January in the north (Russia and Republic of Korea) and July-August in the south (China, Taiwan, Philippines, and Vietnam). Population trend analysis indicated that the relative abundance of white sharks in the region has remained relatively stable, but parameterization of a 75% increase in observer effort found evidence of a minor decline since 2002. Reliably measured sharks ranged from 126-602 cm total length (TL) and 16-2530 kg total weight. The largest shark in this study (602 cm TL) represents the largest measured shark on record worldwide. For all countries combined the sex ratio was non-significantly biased towards females (1∶1.1; n = 113). Of 60 females examined, 11 were confirmed pregnant ranging from the beginning stages of pregnancy (egg cases) to near term (140 cm TL embryos). On average, 6.0±2.2 embryos were found per litter (maximum of 10) and gestation period was estimated to be 20 months. These observations confirm that white sharks are present in the NorthwestPacific Ocean year-round. While acknowledging the difficulties of studying little known populations of a naturally low abundance species, these results highlight the need for dedicated research to

This 1989 Annual Report from PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) to the US Department of Energy (DOE) describes research in environment, safety, and health conducted during fiscal year 1989. The report again consists of five parts, each in a separate volume. This volume contains 20 papers. Part 4 of the PacificNorthwest Laboratory Annual Report of 1989 to the DOE Office of Energy Research includes those programs funded under the title Physical and Technological Research.'' The Field Task Program Studies reported in this document are grouped by budget category and each Field Task proposal/agreement is introduced by an abstract that describes the projects reported in that section. These reports only briefly indicate progress made during 1989. 74 refs., 29 figs., 6 tabs.

Current modeling efforts continue to indicate that the effects of climate change will be both global and local in scale, and that ecohydrologic factors including altered precipitation events, reduced system yields due to streamflow changes, increased flooding and changes to current floodplain characteristics, and changes in vegetation will be affected. Therefore, using technology such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data, future general circulation model (GCM) data, and advanced floodplain analyses to predict the changes to ecohydrologic factors is critical for understanding the effects of climate change on the regional scale watershed. This study considers the effects of three different GCM climate change emissions scenarios (high, middle of the road and low) as proposed by the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group using daily, downscaled Fourth IPCC Assessment data over the PacificNorthwest. Our study region is the Lower Tualatin watershed in Tualatin, Oregon over the historical period of 1960-1999 and future periods of 2010-2049 and 2050-2089. Using the LiDAR data, Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) software, Sacramento model, flood frequency analysis and HEC-RAS, we were able to delineate the basin and extract the vegetative features, calculate the 50-year return interval flow within the basin and predict the 50-year floodplain for 2049 and 2089. A specialized geo-processing algorithm was developed to delineate hydrologic “ecotones”, a floodplain-connected area used in evaluating the condition of riparian areas and streams. A complete current and future conditions analysis was performed for the vegetation within the ecotones in order to: 1) provide an existing inventory of vegetation within the watershed and 2) to predict the affect that climate change may have on vegetation within the watershed.

Currently, the Federal government coordinates the planning and operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) with projects owned and operated by the region`s non-Federal hydrogenerating utilities pursuant to the PacificNorth-west Coordination Agreement (PNCA). The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the Corps of Engineers (Corps), and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) are parties to the PNCA on behalf of the government of the United States. The PNCA is a complex agreement that provides an opportunity for the region`s power producers to maximize the power system`s reliability and economy while meeting their multiple-use objectives. The PNCA does not dictate the operation of the resources it coordinates. It is essentially an accounting mechanism that exchanges the power produced among the parties in order to improve the reliability of the system and reduce regional power costs. Project owners retain complete autonomy to operate as needed to meet their multiple-use requirements. The PNCA was executed in 1964 as an important component of regional plans to maximize the Northwest`s hydro resource capability. Maximization also included the development of storage projects on the Columbia River in Canada pursuant to the terms of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty. Because of the link between power coordination and Treaty issues, the current parties to the PNCA, currently are contemplating entering into a replacement or renewed power coordination agreement. Because the power coordination agreement is a consensual arrangement, its ultimate provisions must be acceptable to all of its signatories. This Appendix R to the Final Environmental Impact Statement of the Columbia River System is a presentation of the PacificNorth-west Coordination Agreement.

Seven homes from the PacificNorthwest were selected to evaluate the differences between estimated and actual energy savings achieved from deep energy retrofits. The energy savings resulting from these retrofits were estimated, using energy modeling software, to save at least 30% on a whole-house basis. The modeled pre-retrofit energy use was trued against monthly utility bills. After the retrofits were completed, each of the homes was extensively monitored, with the exception of one home which was monitored pre-retrofit. This work is being conducted by PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for the U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Program as part of the Building America Program. This work found many discrepancies between actual and estimated energy savings and identified the potential causes for the discrepancies. The differences between actual energy use and modeled energy use also suggest improvements to improve model accuracy. The difference between monthly whole-house actual and estimated energy savings ranged from 75% more energy saved than predicted by the model to 16% less energy saved for all the monitored homes. Similarly, the annual energy savings difference was between 36% and -14%, which was estimated based on existing monitored savings because an entire year of data is not available. Thus, on average, for all six monitored homes the actual energy use is consistently less than estimates, indicating home owners are saving more energy than estimated. The average estimated savings for the eight month monitoring period is 43%, compared to an estimated savings average of 31%. Though this average difference is only 12%, the range of inaccuracies found for specific end-uses is far greater and are the values used to directly estimate energy savings from specific retrofits. Specifically, the monthly post-retrofit energy use differences for specific end-uses (i.e., heating, cooling, hot water, appliances, etc.) ranged from 131% under

This Quality Assurance Project Plan provides the quality assurance requirements and processes that will be followed by staff working on the 100-NR-2 Apatite Project. The U.S. Department of Energy, Fluor Hanford, Inc., PacificNorthwest National Laboratory, and the Washington Department of Ecology agreed that the long-term strategy for groundwater remediation at 100-N would include apatite sequestration as the primary treatment, followed by a secondary treatment. The scope of this project covers the technical support needed before, during, and after treatment of the targeted subsurface environment using a new high-concentration formulation.

This report summarizes the results of an energy and water conservation assessment of the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL) at PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The assessment was performed in October 2013 by engineers from the PNNL Building Performance Team with the support of the dedicated RPL staff and several Facilities and Operations (F&O) department engineers. The assessment was completed for the Facilities and Operations (F&O) department at PNNL in support of the requirements within Section 432 of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007.

recently of developing aquacultural Americans may be developed in Port Gamble interest, is spawn-on-kelp. As the name Bay, Washington (Dwane Day...fishermen, of a more Pacific herring. They remained convinced, reliably available product through aquacultural however, that efforts should be made to...below 7 C on- seaweed fishery." Unfortunately, this fishery but not above that temperature. ended in 1977 because of silt contamination of the product (J

A software to retrieve directional ocean wave spectra from SAR images has been developed for China seas and northwestPacific. The software, written with C programming language, is based on the MPI method proposed by Hasselmann. It is designed to support the wave mode SAR data of ERS, Envisat, Sentinel and so on. The directional ocean wave spectra produced by this software are validated with buoy data in global ocean area, northwestPacific and China seas and the retrieved significant wave height (SWH) errors are 5.2%, 4.9% and 9.3% respectively. About 15,000 directional ocean wave spectra are obtained with the software from the wave mode data of Envisat/ASAR over the China seas and northwestPacific during the period between Jan 2003 and Jan 2012. The preliminary analysis is presented.

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a large economic entity, with $1.06 billion in annual funding, $936 million in total spending, and 4,344 employees in fiscal year (FY) 2013. Four thousand, one hundred and one (4,101) employees live in Washington State. The Laboratory directly and indirectly supports almost $1.31 billion in economic output, 6,802 jobs, and $514 million in Washington State wage income from current operations. The state also gains more than $1.21 billion in output, more than 6,400 jobs, and $459 million in income through closely related economic activities, such as visitors, health care spending, spending by resident retirees, and spinoff companies. PNNL affects Washington’s economy through commonly recognized economic channels, including spending on payrolls and other goods and services that support Laboratory operations. Less-commonly recognized channels also have their own impacts and include company-supported spending on health care for its staff members and retirees, spending of its resident retirees, Laboratory visitor spending, and the economic activities in a growing constellation of “spinoff” companies founded on PNNL research, technology, and managerial expertise. PNNL also has a significant impact on science and technology education and community nonprofit organizations. PNNL is an active participant in the future scientific enterprise in Washington with the state’s K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. The Laboratory sends staff members to the classroom and brings hundreds of students to the PNNL campus to help train the next generation of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and technicians. This investment in human capital, though difficult to measure in terms of current dollars of economic output, is among the important lasting legacies of the Laboratory. Finally, PNNL contributes to the local community with millions of dollars’ worth of cash and in-kind corporate and staff contributions, all of which

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a large economic entity, with $1.06 billion in annual funding, $936 million in total spending, and 4,344 employees in fiscal year (FY) 2013. Four thousand, one hundred and one (4,101) employees live in Washington State. The Laboratory directly and indirectly supports almost $1.31 billion in economic output, 6,802 jobs, and $514 million in Washington State wage income from current operations. The state also gains more than $1.21 billion in output, more than 6,400 jobs, and $459 million in income through closely related economic activities, such as visitors, health care spending, spending by resident retirees, and spinoff companies. PNNL affects Washington’s economy through commonly recognized economic channels, including spending on payrolls and other goods and services that support Laboratory operations. Less-commonly recognized channels also have their own impacts and include company-supported spending on health care for its staff members and retirees, spending of its resident retirees, Laboratory visitor spending, and the economic activities in a growing constellation of “spinoff” companies founded on PNNL research, technology, and managerial expertise. PNNL also has a significant impact on science and technology education and community nonprofit organizations. PNNL is an active participant in the future scientific enterprise in Washington with the state’s K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. The Laboratory sends staff members to the classroom and brings hundreds of students to the PNNL campus to help train the next generation of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and technicians. This investment in human capital, though difficult to measure in terms of current dollars of economic output, is among the important lasting legacies of the Laboratory. Finally, PNNL contributes to the local community with millions of dollars’ worth of cash and in-kind corporate and staff contributions, all of which

Part 5 of the 1979 Annual Report to the Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for the Environment presents PacificNorthwest Laboratory's progress on work performed for the Office of Technology Impacts, the Office of Environmental Compliance and Overview, and the Office of Health and Environmental Research. The report is in four sections, corresponding to the program elements: technology impacts, environmental control engineering, operational and environmental compliance, and human health studies. In each section, articles describe progress made during FY 1979 on individual projects.

This report summarizes the results of a sensitivity analysis of the cost effectiveness and energy-savings potential of conservation measures in the irrigation sector of the PacificNorthwest. This study examines the sensitivity of estimates of the cost effectiveness and energy-savings potential of conservation measures in the irrigation sector generated in a previous study (Harrer et al. 1985c) to changes in various types of input data parameters: reductions in purchase, installation and operating/maintenance costs for irrigation-sector conservation measures. Increases in the amounts of irrigation pumping head savings that would result from the use of the measures were also implemented in the sensitivity analysis. The assumptions used in the sensitivity analysis cause the analysis to represent a ''best-case'' scenario for the amount of energy that can potentially be saved through the implementation of irrigation-sector conservation measures in the PacificNorthwest and the costs per kWh saved for obtaining these savings. Under these ''best-case'' assumptions, it is estimated that approximately 207 average megawatts of electricity can potentially be saved by the year 2003 through the implementation of low-pressure irrigation, pump fittings redesign, increases in mainline size, and improved irrigation scheduling on new and existing irrigated acres. The majority of these savings (70%) can be obtained for a cost of 20 mills per kWh saved or less.

During fiscal year (FY) 2010, PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Environmental Protection and Regulatory Programs Division (before March 1, 2011 known as the Environmental Management Services Department) staff performed a number of activities as part of PNNL’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance program. These activities helped to verify U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) PacificNorthwest Site Office (PNSO) and Richland Operations Office (RL) compliance with NEPA requirements and streamline the NEPA process for federal activities conducted at PNNL. Self-assessments were performed to address NEPA compliance and cultural and biological resource protection. The NEPA self-assessments focused on implementation within the PNNL Energy and Environment Directorate and routine maintenance activities conducted during the previous calendar year. The cultural and biological resource self-assessments were conducted in accordance with the PNSO Cultural and Biological Resources Management Plan, which specifies annual monitoring of important resources to assess and document the status of the resources and the associated protective mechanisms in place to protect sensitive resources.

An Alternative Scenario for the electric energy future of the PacificNorthwest is presented. The Scenario includes an analysis of each major end use of electricity in the residential, commercial, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors. This approach affords the most direct means of projecting the likely long-term growth in consumption and the opportunities for increasing the efficiency with which electricity is used in each instance. The total demand for electricity by these end uses then provides a basis for determining whether additional central station generation is required to 1995. A projection of total demand for electricity depends on the combination of many independent variables and assumptions. Thus, the approach is a resilient one; no single assumption or set of linked assumptions dominates the analysis. End-use analysis allows policymakers to visualize the benefits of alternative programs, and to make comparison with the findings of other studies. It differs from the traditional load forecasts for the PacificNorthwest, which until recently were based largely on straightforward extrapolations of historical trends in the growth of electrical demand. The Scenario addresses the supply potential of alternative energy sources. Data are compiled for 1975, 1985, and 1995 in each end-use sector.

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), the cause of wheat streak mosaic, is a widespread and damaging pathogen of wheat. WSMV is not a chronic problem of annual wheat in the United States PacificNorthwest but could negatively affect the establishment of perennial wheat, which is being developed as an alternative to annual wheat to prevent soil erosion. Fifty local isolates of WSMV were collected from 2008 to 2010 near Lewiston, ID, Pullman, WA, and the United States Department of Agriculture Central Ferry Research Station, near Pomeroy, WA to determine the amount of genetic variation present in the region. The coat protein gene from each isolate was sequenced and the data subjected to four different methods of phylogenetic analyses. Two well-supported clades of WSMV were identified. Isolates in clade I share sequence similarity with isolates from Central Europe; this is the first report of isolates from Central Europe being reported in the United States. Isolates in clade II are similar to isolates originating from Australia, Argentina, and the American PacificNorthwest. Nine isolates showed evidence of recombination and the same two well-supported clades were observed when recombinant isolates were omitted from the analysis. More polymorphic sites, parsimony informative sites, and increased diversity were observed in clade II than clade I, suggesting more recent establishment of the virus in the latter. The observed diversity within both clades could make breeding for durable disease resistance in perennial wheat difficult if there is a differential response of WSMV resistance genes to isolates from different clades.

During fiscal year (FY) 2010, PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Environmental Protection and Regulatory Programs Division (before March 1, 2011 known as the Environmental Management Services Department) staff performed a number of activities as part of PNNL’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance program. These activities helped to verify U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) PacificNorthwest Site Office (PNSO) and Richland Operations Office (RL) compliance with NEPA requirements and streamline the NEPA process for federal activities conducted at PNNL. Self-assessments were performed to address NEPA compliance and cultural and biological resource protection. The NEPA self-assessments focused on implementation within the PNNL Energy and Environment Directorate and routine maintenance activities conducted during the previous calendar year. The cultural and biological resource self-assessments were conducted in accordance with the PNSO Cultural and Biological Resources Management Plan, which specifies annual monitoring of important resources to assess and document the status of the resources and the associated protective mechanisms in place to protect sensitive resources.

Full Text Available White sharks are highly migratory apex predators, globally distributed in temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical waters. Knowledge of white shark biology and ecology has increased recently based on research at known aggregation sites in the Indian, Atlantic, and Northeast Pacific Oceans; however, few data are available for the NorthwestPacific Ocean. This study provides a meta-analysis of 240 observations of white sharks from the NorthwestPacific Ocean between 1951 and 2012. Records comprise reports of bycatch in commercial fisheries, media accounts, personal communications, and documentation of shark-human interactions from Russia (n = 8, Republic of Korea (22, Japan (129, China (32, Taiwan (45, Philippines (1 and Vietnam (3. Observations occurred in all months, excluding October-January in the north (Russia and Republic of Korea and July-August in the south (China, Taiwan, Philippines, and Vietnam. Population trend analysis indicated that the relative abundance of white sharks in the region has remained relatively stable, but parameterization of a 75% increase in observer effort found evidence of a minor decline since 2002. Reliably measured sharks ranged from 126-602 cm total length (TL and 16-2530 kg total weight. The largest shark in this study (602 cm TL represents the largest measured shark on record worldwide. For all countries combined the sex ratio was non-significantly biased towards females (1∶1.1; n = 113. Of 60 females examined, 11 were confirmed pregnant ranging from the beginning stages of pregnancy (egg cases to near term (140 cm TL embryos. On average, 6.0±2.2 embryos were found per litter (maximum of 10 and gestation period was estimated to be 20 months. These observations confirm that white sharks are present in the NorthwestPacific Ocean year-round. While acknowledging the difficulties of studying little known populations of a naturally low abundance species, these results highlight the need for dedicated

Declines in Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. have been blamed on hydropower, overfishing, ocean conditions, and land use practices; however, less is known about the impacts of introduced fish. Most of the hundreds of lakes and ponds in the PacificNorthwest contain introduced fishes, and many of these water bodies are also important for salmon production, especially of coho salmon O. kisutch. Over 2 years, we examined the predation impacts of 10 common introduced fishes (brown bullhead Ameiurus nebulosus, black crappie Pomoxis nigro-maculatus, bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, golden shiner Notemigonus crysoleucas, green sunfish L. cyanellus, largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, pumpkinseed L. gibbosus, rainbow trout O. mykiss, warmouth L. gulosus, and yellow perch Perca flavescens) and two native fishes (cutthroat trout O. clarkii and prickly sculpin Cottus asper) on wild juvenile coho salmon in three shallow PacificNorthwest lakes, all located in different watersheds. Of these species, largemouth bass were responsible for an average of 98% of the predation on coho salmon in all lakes, but the total impact to each run varied among lakes and years. Very few coho salmon were eaten by black crappies, brown bullheads, cutthroat trout, prickly sculpin, or yellow perch, whereas other species were not observed to eat coho salmon. Juvenile coho salmon growth in all lakes was higher than in nearby streams. Therefore, food competition between coho salmon and introduced fishes in lakes was probably not limiting coho salmon populations. Largemouth bass are widespread and are present in 85% of lowland warmwater public-access lakes in Washington (n = 421), 84% of those in Oregon (n = 179), and 74% of those in the eight northwesternmost counties in California (n = 19). Future research would help to identify the impact of largemouth bass predation across the region and prioritize lakes where impacts are most severe. Nevertheless, attempts to transplant or increase largemouth bass

In part, the impetus for restructuring the U.S. electricity industry stems from the large regional disparities in electricity prices. Indeed, industry reforms are moving most rapidly in high-cost states, such as California and those in the Northeast. Legislators, regulators, and many others in states that enjoy low electricity prices, on the other hand, ask whether increased competition will benefit consumers in their states. This report quantifies the effects of increased competition on electricity consumers and producers in two regions, the PacificNorthwest and California. California`s generating costs are roughly double those of the Northwest. We use a new strategic-planning model called Oak Ridge Competitive Electricity Dispatch (ORCED) to conduct these analyses. Specifically, we analyzed four cases: a pre-competition base case intended to represent conditions as they might exist under current regulation in the year 2000, a post-competition case in which customer loads and load shapes respond to real-time electricity pricing, a sensitivity case in which natural-gas prices are 20% higher than in the base case, and a sensitivity case in which the hydroelectric output in the Northwest is 20% less than in the base case. The ORCED analyses suggest that, absent regulatory intervention, retail competition would increase profits for producers in the Northwest and lower prices for consumers in California at the expense of consumers in the Northwest and producers in California. However, state regulators may be able to capture some or all of the increased profits and use them to lower electricity prices in the low-cost region. Perhaps the most straightforward way to allocate the costs and benefits to retail customers is through development of transition-cost charges or credits. With this option, the consumers in both regions can benefit from competition. The magnitude and even direction of bulk-power trading between regions depends strongly on the amount of hydroelectric

A regional assessment of historical and future yields, and components of the water, nitrogen, and carbon soil balance of dryland wheat-based cropping systems in the US PacificNorthwest is being conducted (Regional Approaches to Climate Change project funded by USDA-NIFA). All these elements intertwines and are important to understand the future of these systems in the region. A computer simulation methodology was used based on the CropSyst model and historic and projected daily weather data downscaled to a 4x4 km grid including 14 general circulation models (GCMs) and two representative concentration pathways of future atmospheric CO2 (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). The study region was divided in 3 agro-ecological zones (AEZ) based on precipitation amount: low (460 mm/year), with a change from crop-fallow, to transition fallow (crop-crop-fallow) to annual cropping, respectively. Typical wheat-based rotations included winter wheat (WW)-Summer fallow (SF) for the low AEZ, WW-spring wheat (SW)-SF for the intermediate AEZ, and WW-SW-spring peas for the high AEZ, all under conventional and no tillage management. Alternative systems incorporating canola were also evaluated. Results suggest that, in most cases, these dryland systems may fare well in the future (31-year periods centered around 2030, 2050, and 2070), with potential gains in productivity. Also, a trend towards increased fallow in the intermediate AEZ appears possible for higher productivity, and the inclusion of less water demanding crops may help sustain cropping intensity. Uncertainties in these projections arise from large discrepancies among climate models regarding the warming rate, compounded by different possible future CO2 emission scenarios, the degree of change in frequency and severity of extreme events and associated potential damages to crop canopies due to cold weather and grain set reduction due to extreme heat events. Furthermore, there is little understanding of the impact of climate change on

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have sustained indigenous and immigrant populations alike since their arrival in North America. This brief overview focuses on the historical use of NTFPs in the U.S. PacificNorthwest and Upper Midwest. Drawing on sources as diverse as accounts by early European arrivals, archaeological evidence, and contemporary ethnobotanical...

Conserving biological diversity in a changing climate poses major challenges for land managers and society. Effective adaptive strategies for dealing with climate change require a socioecological systems perspective. We highlight some of the projected ecological responses to climate change in the PacificNorthwest, U.S.A and identify possible adaptive actions that...

Nationally, there is growing public interest in and policy pressure for developing alternative and renewable sources of energy. Wind energy facilities in the PacificNorthwest expanded rapidly over the past decade, as a result of state policies that encourage wind energy development. While much of the development thus far has occurred on private lands, there is...

Brush encroachment on forest land is greatly reducing the amount of wood grown in forests of the PacificNorthwest. Reliable estimates show that brush has reduced the productivity of more than one-fourth of the forest land of southwestern Oregon. Red alder alone, which is a commercial tree on some areas but a weed species on others, accounts for poor conifer stocking...

Blueberry shock virus (BlShV) is a serious problem in blueberry production in the PacificNorthwest (PNW) region of North America. Infection occurs during bloom and the virus moves into other parts of the plant in an uneven but steady manner and may take several years to become fully systemic in mat...

Increased exposure to ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation has been proposed as a major environmental stressor leading to global amphibian declines. Prior experimental evidence from the US PacificNorthwest (PNW) indicating the acute embryonic sensitivity of at least 4 amphibian specie...

In the NorthwestPacific Ocean, the squid jigging fisheries from China, Japan and other countries and regions have targeted the west winter-spring cohort of neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) from August to November since the 1970s. This squid is a short-lived ecological opportunist with a life-span of about one year, and its population is labile and recruitment variability is driven by the environment or climate change. This variability provides a challenge for ones to forecast the key habitats affected by climate change. The catch data of O. bartramii from Chinese squid jigging fishery and the satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) data are used in the NorthwestPacific Ocean from August to November of 1998 to 2004, the SST preferences ofO. bartramiicorresponding to high values of catch per fishing day (CPUE) are determined and monthly potential habitats are predicted using a histogram analysis of the SST data. The possible changes in the potential habitats of O. bartramii in the NorthwestPacific Ocean are estimated under four climate change scenarios based on the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, i.e., 0.5, 1, 2 and 4°C increases in the SST because of the climate change. The results reveal an obvious poleward shift of the potential habitats ofO. bartramii in the NorthwestPacific Ocean.

Forests dominated by Douglas-fir and western hemlock in the PacificNorthwest of the United States have strongly influenced concepts and policy concerning old-growth forest conservation. Despite the attention to their old-growth characteristics, a tendency remains to view their disturbance ecology in relatively simple terms, emphasizing infrequent, stand-replacing (SR...

Canopy-dwelling cryptogamic plants (i.e. lichens and mosses) serve important roles in biogeochemical cycles worldwide and are of particular importance to biogeochemical cycling in PacificNorthwest forests. Epiphytic lichens and mosses respond sensitively to both direct and indirect effects of global change, as evidenced by distinct changes in epiphyte community structure. Yet, few studies have explored how shifting epiphytic communities, resulting from changing climate and increasing air pollutant exposure, may greatly impact biogeochemical cycles of the forests they inhabit. We present the first study investigating how urbanization, as a proxy for global change, impacts epiphytic community structure and functional biodiversity and address the impending effects on PacificNorthwest forest biogeochemical cycles. We discuss the results of paired ground and arboreal epiphyte surveys across an urban to rural gradient in Portland, Oregon. Three research sites with varying distance (0km, 74km, and 109km) from urban center were surveyed and epiphytic biodiversity was described. Pronounced shifts in epiphyte community structure were observed downwind of the Portland metro region. These results suggest that the impacts of urbanization may have significant and surprisingly far-reaching impacts on forested ecosystems in the PacificNorthwest. The impacts of an altered ground and arboreal epiphytic community on PacificNorthwest forest biogeochemical processes will be discussed.

There is evidence from literature, state department of agriculture documents, and recent diagnoses that Sclerotium cepivorum, causal agent of white rot of garlic and onion, is spreading and/or becoming more established in the PacificNorthwest. Previously documented distributions are summarized, an...

This supplement replaces the list of Publications and Presentations in the PacificNorthwest Laboratory Annual Report for 1980 to the Assistant Secretary for Environment, PNL-3700 PT2, Ecological Sciences. The listings in the report as previously distributed were incomplete owing to changeovers in the bibliographic-tracking system.

Historical streamflow data from the PacificNorthwest indicate that the precipitation amount has been the dominant control on the magnitude of low streamflow extremes compared to the air temperature-affected timing of snowmelt runoff. The relative sensitivities of low streamflow to precipitation and...

A significant portion of the research undertaken at PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) is focused on the strategic programs of the US Department of Energy`s (DOE) Office of Health and Environmental Research (OHER). These programs, which include Environmental Processes (Subsurface Science, Ecosystem Function and Response, and Atmospheric Chemistry), Global Change (Climate Change, Environmental Vulnerability, and Integrated Assessments), Biotechnology (Human Genome and Structural Biology), and Health (Health Effects and Medical Applications), have been established by OHER to support DOE business areas in science and technology and environmental quality. PNL uses a set of critical capabilities based on the Laboratory`s research facilities and the scientific and technological expertise of its staff to help OHER achieve its programmatic research goals. Integration of these capabilities across the Laboratory enables PNL to assemble multidisciplinary research teams that are highly effective in addressing the complex scientific and technical issues associated with OHER-sponsored research. PNL research efforts increasingly are focused on complex environmental and health problems that require multidisciplinary teams to address the multitude of time and spatial scales found in health and environmental research. PNL is currently engaged in research in the following areas for these OHER Divisions: Environmental Sciences -- atmospheric radiation monitoring, climate modeling, carbon cycle, atmospheric chemistry, ecological research, subsurface sciences, bioremediation, and environmental molecular sciences; Health Effects and Life Sciences -- cell/molecular biology, and biotechnology; Medical Applications and Biophysical Research -- analytical technology, and radiological and chemical physics. PNL`s contributions to OHER strategic research programs are described in this report.

It has been proposed that North Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) evolution was intimately linked to North Atlantic climate oscillations during the last glacial-interglacial transition. However, during the early deglaciation and the Last Glacial Maximum, the SST development in the subarctic northwestPacific and the Bering Sea is poorly constrained as most existing deglacial SST records are based on alkenone paleothermometry, which is limited prior to 15 ka B.P. in the subarctic North Pacific realm. By applying the TEXL86 temperature proxy we obtain glacial-Holocene-SST records for the marginal northwestPacific and the Western Bering Sea. Our TEXL86-based records and existing alkenone data suggest that during the past 15.5 ka, SSTs in the northwestPacific and the Western Bering Sea closely followed millennial-scale climate fluctuations known from Greenland ice cores, indicating rapid atmospheric teleconnections with abrupt climate changes in the North Atlantic. Our SST reconstructions indicate that in the Western Bering Sea SSTs drop significantly during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1), similar to the known North Atlantic climate history. In contrast, progressively rising SST in the northwestPacific is different to the North Atlantic climate development during HS1. Similarities between the northwestPacific SST and climate records from the Gulf of Alaska point to a stronger influence of Alaskan Stream waters connecting the eastern and western basin of the North Pacific during this time. During the Holocene, dissimilar climate trends point to reduced influence of the Alaskan Stream in the northwestPacific.

Biomass burning emissions emit a significant amount of trace gases and aerosols and can affect atmospheric chemistry and radiative forcing for hundreds or thousands of kilometres downwind. They can also contribute to exceedances of air quality standards and have negative impacts on human health. We present a case study of an intense wildfire plume from Siberia that affected the air quality across the PacificNorthwest on 6-10 July 2012. Using satellite measurements (MODIS True Colour RGB imagery and MODIS AOD), we track the wildfire smoke plume from its origin in Siberia to the PacificNorthwest where subsidence ahead of a subtropical Pacific High made the plume settle over the region. The normalized enhancement ratios of O3 and PM1 relative to CO of 0.26 and 0.08 are consistent with a plume aged 6-10 days. The aerosol mass in the plume was mainly submicron in diameter (PM1 / PM2.5 = 0.96) and the part of the plume sampled at the Whistler High Elevation Monitoring Site (2182 m a.s.l.) was 88 % organic material. Stable atmospheric conditions along the coast limited the initial entrainment of the plume and caused local anthropogenic emissions to build up. A synthesis of air quality from the regional surface monitoring networks describes changes in ambient O3 and PM2.5 during the event and contrasts them to baseline air quality estimates from the AURAMS chemical transport model without wildfire emissions. Overall, the smoke plume contributed significantly to the exceedances in O3 and PM2.5 air quality standards and objectives that occurred at several communities in the region during the event. Peak enhancements in 8 h O3 of 34-44 ppbv and 24 h PM2.5 of 10-32 µg m-3 were attributed to the effects of the smoke plume across the Interior of British Columbia and at the Whistler Peak High Elevation Site. Lesser enhancements of 10-12 ppbv for 8 h O3 and of 4-9 µg m-3 for 24 h PM2.5 occurred across coastal British Columbia and Washington State. The findings suggest that the

Subduction earthquakes similar to the 2011 Japan and 2010 Chile events will occur in the future in the Cascadia subduction zone in the PacificNorthwest. In this paper, nonlinear dynamic analyses are carried out on 24 buildings designed according to outdated and modern building codes for the cities of Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The results indicate that the median collapse capacity of the ductile (post-1970) buildings is approximately 40% less when subjected to ground motions from subduction, as compared to crustal earthquakes. Buildings are more susceptible to earthquake-induced collapse when shaken by subduction records (as compared to crustal records of the same intensity) because the subduction motions tend to be longer in duration due to their larger magnitude and the greater source-to-site distance. As a result, subduction earthquakes are shown to contribute to the majority of the collapse risk of the buildings analyzed.

In 2015, the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) developed its first Climate Resilience Plan for its Richland Campus. PNNL has performed Climate Resilience Planning for the Department of Defense, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Department of Energy (DOE) over the past 5 years. The assessment team included climate scientists, social scientists, engineers, and operations managers. A multi-disciplinary team was needed to understand the potential exposures to future changes at the site, the state of the science on future impacts, and the best process for “mainstreaming” new actions into existing activities. The team uncovered that the site’s greatest vulnerabilities, and therefore priorities for climate resilience planning, are high temperature due to degraded infrastructure, increased wildfire frequency, and intense precipitation impacts on stormwater conveyance systems.

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) research and development efforts are concentrated on DOE`s environmental quality mission and the scientific research required to support that mission. The Laboratory also supports the energy resources and national security missions in areas where an overlap between our core competencies and DOE`s goals exists. Fiscal year 1996 saw the Laboratory focus its efforts on the results necessary for us to meet DOE`s most important needs and expectations. Six Critical Outcomes were established in partnership with DOE. The Laboratory met or exceeded performance expectations in most areas, including these outcomes and the implementation of the Laboratory`s Integrated Assessment Program. We believe our overall performance for this evaluation period has been outstanding. A summary of results and key issues is provided.

Part 5 of the 1990 Annual Report to the US Department of Energy's Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health presents PacificNorthwest Laboratory's progress on work performed for the Office of Environmental Guidance, the Office of Environmental Compliance, the Office of Environmental Audit, the Office of National Environmental Policy Act Project Assistance, the Office of Nuclear Safety, the Office of Safety Compliance, and the Office of Policy and Standards. For each project, as identified by the Field Work Proposal, there is an article describing progress made during fiscal year 1990. Authors of these articles represent a broad spectrum of capabilities derived from five of the seven technical centers of the Laboratory, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the work.

Full Text Available The forest stand structure class “old-growth” has previously been qualitatively described as having several distinct “sub-structures.” Species composition, diameter distribution, and other structural features commonly associated with old-growth in the PacificNorthwest are quite variable. We determined which quantitative stand structure variables are commonly found together using the Spearman correlation and non-metric multidimensional analysis. Some features were more commonly found together than others, indicating different old-growth stand types, or sub-structures. Cluster analysis classified the old-growth forests into four groups: Douglas-fir dominance, shade tolerant species dominance, and intermediate groups. The intermediate groups were split by the density of large logs and large shade tolerant trees. The old-growth sub-structures appear to change from one to another as the old forest develops.

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established an area monitoring dosimeter program in accordance with Article 514 of the Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Control Manual (RCM) in January 1993. This program is to minimize the number of areas requiring issuance of personnel dosimeters and to demonstrate that doses outside Radiological Buffer Areas are negligible. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 835.402 (a)(1)-(4) and Article 511.1 of the PNNL Radiological Control Program Description, personnel dosimetry shall be provided to (1) radiological workers who are likely to receive at least 100 mrem annually, and (2) declared pregnant workers, minors, and members of the public who are likely to receive at least 50 mrem annually. Program results for calendar years 1993-2005 confirm that personnel dosimetry is not needed for individuals located in areas monitored by the program

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established an area monitoring dosimeter program in accordance with Article 514 of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Control Manual (RCM) in January 1993. This program is to minimize the number of areas requiring issuance of personnel dosimeters and to demonstrate that doses outside Radiological Buffer Areas are negligible. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 835.402 (a) (1)-(4) and Article 511.1 of the PNNL Radiological Control Program Description, personnel dosimetry shall be provided to 1) radiological workers who are likely to receive at least 100 mrem annually, and 2) declared pregnant workers, minors, and members of the public who are likely to receive at least 50 mrem annually. Program results for calendar years 1993-2001 confirm that personnel dosimetry is not needed for individuals located in areas monitored by the program.

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established an area monitoring dosimeter program in accordance with Article 514 of the Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Control Manual (RCM) in January 1993. This program is to minimize the number of areas requiring issuance of personnel dosimeters and to demonstrate that doses outside Radiological Buffer Areas are negligible. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 835.402 (a)(1)-(4) and Article 511.1 of the PNNL Radiological Control Program Description, personnel dosimetry shall be provided to 1) radiological workers who are likely to receive at least 100 mrem annually, and 2) declared pregnant workers, minors, and members of the public who are likely to receive at least 50 mrem annually. Program results for calendar years 1993-2005 confirm that personnel dosimetry is not needed for individuals located in areas monitored by the program.

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established an area monitoring dosimeter program in accordance with Article 514 of the Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Control Manual (RCM) in January 1993. This program is to minimize the number of areas requiring issuance of personnel dosimeters and to demonstrate that doses outside Radiological Buffer Areas are negligible. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 835.402 (a) (1)-(4) and Article 511.1 of the DOE Standard Radiological Control, personnel dosimetry shall be provided to 1) radiological workers who are likely to receive at least 100 mrem annually, and 2) declared pregnant workers, minors, and members of the public who are likely to receive at least 50 mrem annually. Program results for calendar years 1993-2000 confirm that personnel dosimetry is not needed for individuals located in areas monitored by the program.

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a well-known but uncommon chronic liver disease that is presumed to be of autoimmune etiology. Recently, investigations in British Columbia (BC), a province of Canada situated along the PacificNorth-West of North America, have suggested that PBC is not a rare disease amongst BC's Aboriginal (i.e. First Nations) communities. Geographically, BC is adjacent to South East Alaska, an American state that has also reported an increased prevalence of PBC amongst its Aboriginal communities. In this article, the medical evidence supporting a hypothesis of increased risk of PBC amongst BC's First Nations communities is reviewed. Evidence suggesting that autoimmune hepatitis is also more likely amongst BC's First Nations communities is also presented.(C)2006 The WJG Press. All rights reserved.

Some of the largest and best landslide databases in the United States of America describe the PacificNorthwest region. Nevertheless, these inventories are not a comprehensive listing of historic landslides. In particular, landslide dates tend to be recorded by state transportation agencies, which imposes a spatial bias upon any subsequent analysis. This reporting bias complicates not only the identification of landslide triggering conditions, but also hinders empirical calculations of landslide susceptibility. Although many strategies for bias mitigation could be employed, the simplest approach delivers generally plausible results that are most reliable in the most critical locations: along major highways and rail lines. This work tests logistic regression models that were fitted in zones with landslide reports, then applied regionally. Due to the destabilizing effects of excavation and other anthropogenic disturbances, the models may overestimate susceptibility in undeveloped areas. However, the susceptibility of developed sites should be as accurate as the modeling technique and input data allow.

This self-evaluation report offers a summary of results from FY2000 actions to achieve PacificNorthwest National Laboratory's strategy and provides an analysis of the state of their self-assessment process. The result of their integrated planning and assessment process identifies Laboratory strengths and opportunities for improvement. Critical elements of that process are included in this report; namely, a high-level summary of external oversight activities, progress against Operations Improvement Initiatives, and a summary of Laboratory strengths and areas for improvement developed by management from across the laboratory. Some key areas targeted for improvement in FY2001 are: systems approach to resource management; information protection; integrated safety management flow-down to the benchtop; cost management; integrated assessment; Price Anderson Amendments Act (PAAA) Program; and travel risk mitigation.

Using observational datasets and numerical model experiments, the mechanism on the slowly varying change in the relationship between the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) is investigated. The decadal-window (11-, 15-, and 21-year) moving correlations show a significant change in the boreal wintertime ENSO-EAWM relationship between two sub-periods of 1976‒1992 and 1997‒2013. Such recent change in ENSO-EAWM relationship is mainly attributed to the changes in the intensity and zonal location of the anomalous lower-tropospheric northwestPacific anticyclone (NWP-AC). NWP-AC commonly develops near the region of the Philippine Sea during the ENSO's peak phase and plays an important role of bridging the tropical convection and mid-latitude teleconnection. On one hand, the intensity of the NWP-AC is influenced by the interdecadal variation in a linkage between ENSO and the Indian Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) variability, referring that a strong connection between the Pacific and Indian Oceans results in the strengthening of NWP-AC response to ENSO. On the other hand, the zonal displacement of the NWP-AC is associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). That is, the tropical Pacific mean state (i.e., zonal SST gradient between climatologically warm western Pacific and cold eastern Pacific)—strengthened by either the negative PDO phase or the positive AMO phase—drives the anomalous ENSO-induced convection to be shifted to the west. With this westward shift, the zonal center of the NWP-AC also migrates westward over the Philippine Islands and exerts stronger connection between ENSO and EAWM. In contrast, the relaxed zonal SST contrast associated with either the positive PDO phase or the negative AMO phase tends to exhibit weaker ENSO-EAWM relationship via both of eastward shifted zonal centers of the anomalous ENSO-induced convection and the NWP-AC. Finally, a

As part of a comprehensive database of hydrologic data and climate change scenarios for the greater PacificNorthwest (including the Columbia River basin and coastal drainages in Washington and Oregon), gridded daily potential evapotranspiration (PET) is offered for the first time as output from the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model. PET is the amount of water that would be transpired by vegetation, provided unlimited water supply, and has been widely used in ecological research as a reference value of land surface water stress (e.g. in characterizations of climate interactions with forest processes). PET in the VIC model is computed using a Penman Monteith approach that requires estimates of solar radiation, air temperature, windspeed, as well as vegetation characteristics such as leaf area index (LAI), aerodynamic resistance and vegetation resistances, including architectural and canopy resistance. Using different assumptions for these inputs, the hydrologic database provides five types of PET variables, including PET from natural vegetation, PET from natural vegetation with no canopy resistance, open water PET, and PET for short (grass) and tall (alfalfa) reference crops. We evaluate simulated PET by the VIC model through a comparison with available observed data and other datasets as well as investigate PET as it relates to forest processes. Using PET as a indicator of water stress and multi-model climate change scenarios for low and medium emissions scenarios (B1 and A1B, respectively) from the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we evaluate the impacts of climate change on forests of the PacificNorthwest and the potential for use of the PET dataset as an indicator of forest stress.

This report documents research to identify the potential energy savings and cost per kWh saved for implementing currently available energy conservation measures in the irrigated agriculture sector of the PacificNorthwest. A computer model that simulates the energy consumption process of irrigation systems and estimates the levelized costs of undertaking conservation investments is the primary analytical tool used in this research. Using engineering and economic input parameters for the various conservation measures that could potentially be implemented in irrigated agriculture, the Irrigation Sector Energy Planning (ISEP) model generates estimates of energy savings and cost per kWh saved for the measures. All parameters input to the ISEP model are based upon empirical field data. Results provided by the ISEP model indicate tht by the year 2003 a total of approximately 158.6 average MW of energy could potentially be saved in the PacificNorthwest irrigation sector on all sprinkler-irrigated acres. Approximately 130.4 average MW can be saved on acres currently by sprinkler, while an additional 28.2 average MW could be saved on new acres that are forecast to come under irrigation in the next 20 years. The largest share of the total savings (47%) is estimated to come from the use of low-pressure irrigation. Over 60% of the total potential savings 158.6 average MW is estimated to be available for a cost per kWh saved of 20 mills or less and over 75% could be achieved for a cost of 30 mills or less. Savings from low-pressure irrigation and the redesign of fittings and mainlines will normally cost less than 20 mills per kWh saved. Almost all of the savings that are estimated to cost more than 30 mills per kWh saved to obtain are savings from improved irrigation scheduling on irrigated acres that use surface water and have low average pumping lifts.

Non-coniferous vegetation, including herbs, shrubs, and broad-leaved trees, makes a vital contribution to ecosystem function and diversity in PacificNorthwest conifer forests. However, forest management has largely been indifferent or detrimental to shrubs and trees that have low commercial value, in spite of a paradigm shift towards more holistic management in recent decades. Forest management practices that are detrimental to broad-leaved trees and shrubs are likely to decrease habitat diversity for wildlife, but the number of species that may be affected has not previously been enumerated. I reviewed life history accounts for forest-dwelling vertebrate wildlife species and derived a list of 78 species in Oregon and Washington that are associated with non-coniferous vegetation. The diversity of direct and indirect food resources provided was the primary functional basis for associations of most species with non-coniferous vegetation. Thus, a diversity of herbs and broad-leaved trees and shrubs provides the foundation for food webs that contribute to diversity at multiple trophic levels in PacificNorthwest conifer forests. Given the number of species associated with non-coniferous vegetation in conifer-dominated forests, maintaining habitats that support diverse plant communities, particularly broad-leaved trees and shrubs, will be an important component of management strategies intended to foster biodiversity. Silvicultural practices such as modified planting densities, and pre-commercial and commercial thinning, can be used to control stand density in order to favor the development of understory herbs, shrubs, and a diversity of tree species within managed stands. Allowing shrubs and hardwood trees to develop and persist in early seral stands by curtailing vegetation control also would benefit many species associated with non-coniferous vegetation.

In recent years the Bonneville Power Administration has instituted programs to prompt the implementation of the residential Model Conservation Standards (MCS) issued by the Northwest Power Planning Council (Council) in 1983. These standards provide alternative methods for designing and constructing homes to cost effectively reduce residential energy consumption. Authority exists to apply them only to new, electrically heated homes. Because they apply to electrically heated homes, concerns have arisen about how the standards might affect buyers' decisions to purchase a new home, in particular, their choice of a heating fuel. Early data suggested that electricity started losing market share in Tacoma about when the MCS went into effect in 1984, and recent data have shown that about half of electricity's share of the new home market has shifted to natural gas. This decline in electric heating was consistent with concerns about the possible detrimental effect of the cost of MCS on sales of electrically heated homes. A desire to understand the causes of the perceived decline in electricity's market share was part of the impetus for this study. Multiple techniques and data sources are used in this study to examine the relationship between residential energy-efficiency and fuel choice in the major metropolitan areas in Washington: Spokane, Clark, Pierce, and King Counties. Recent regional surveys have shown that electricity is the predominant space heating fuel in the PacificNorthwest, but it appears to be losing its dominance in some markets such as Tacoma.

Arctic and Subarctic Regions are most sensitive to climate change, and reversely provide dramatic feedbacks to the global climate. Paleoclimate studies in these regions are of vital importance for a better understanding of the natural processes in the climate system prior to the influences of human activities. With a focus on discovering paleoceanographic evolutions in the NorthwestPacific Ocean during the last 20,000 years, we show first results of the German-Sino cooperation programme SiGePax. We present a collection of sediment cores covering climatical key regions in the NorthwestPacific Ocean. Our climate simulations provide the first step towards 'Data-Model Syntheses', which are crucial for exploring the underlying mechanisms of observed changes in proxy records. Analyses of Holocene sea surface temperature records on a basin-wide scale show a spatially heterogenous, but no simple warming or cooling pattern, indicating that extratropical atmospheric dynamics is involved. The temperature data are compared to model scenarios. We use the Finite-Element Sea-Ice Ocean Model (FESOM) in a global configuration, with a regional focus on the marginal seas of the NorthwestPacific Ocean to provide the underlying dynamics. We find that the Okhotsk Sea is characterized by a highly dynamical sea-ice cover, where due to brine release, the Okhotsk Sea Intermediate Water is formed, contributing to North Pacific Intermediate Water.

The PacificNorthwest region of the United States provides world-class and historically important examples of a wide variety of volcanic features. This guide is designed to give a broad overview of the region’s diverse volcanism rather than focusing on the results of detailed studies; the reader should consult the reference list for more detailed information on each of the sites, and we have done our best to recognize previous field trip leaders who have written the pioneering guides. This trip derives from one offered as a component of the joint University of Idaho- Washington State University volcanology class taught from 1995 through 2014, and it borrows in theme from the classic field guide of Johnston and Donnelly-Nolan (1981). For readers interested in using this field guide as an educational tool, we have included an appendix with supplemental references to resources that provide useful background information on relevant topics, as well as a few suggestions for field-based exercises that could be useful when bringing students to these locations in the future. The 4-day trip begins with an examination of lava flow structures of the Columbia River Basalt, enormous lava fields that were emplaced during one of the largest eruptive episodes in Earth’s recent history. On the second day, the trip turns to the High Lava Plains, a bimodal volcanic province that transgressed from southeast to northwest from the Miocene through the Holocene, at the northern margin of the Basin and Range Province. This volcanic field provides excellent examples of welded ignimbrite, silicic lavas and domes, monogenetic basaltic lava fields, and hydrovolcanic features. The third day is devoted to a circumnavigation of Crater Lake, the result of one of the world’s best-documented caldera-forming eruptions. The caldera walls also expose the anatomy of Mount Mazama, a stratovolcano of the Cascade Range. The last day is spent at Newberry Volcano, a back-arc shield volcano topped by a

Reconstructing centennial timescale hydroclimate variability during the late Holocene is critically important for understanding large-scale patterns of drought and their relationship with climate dynamics. We present sediment oxygen isotope records spanning the last two millennia from 10 lakes, as well as climate model simulations, indicating that the Little Ice Age was dry relative to the Medieval Climate Anomaly in much of the PacificNorthwest of North America. This pattern is consistent with observed associations between the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Northern Annular Mode and drought as well as with proxy-based reconstructions of Pacific ocean-atmosphere variations over the past 1000 years. The large amplitude of centennial variability indicated by the lake data suggests that regional hydroclimate is characterized by longer-term shifts in ENSO-like dynamics, and that an improved understanding of the centennial timescale relationship between external forcing and drought conditions is necessary for projecting future hydroclimatic conditions in western North America.

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth are disproportionally burdened by high rates of sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancy, heightening their need for sexual health interventions that are aligned to their unique culture and social context. Media technologies, including the Internet, cell phones, and video games, offer new…

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth are disproportionally burdened by high rates of sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancy, heightening their need for sexual health interventions that are aligned to their unique culture and social context. Media technologies, including the Internet, cell phones, and video games, offer new…

Oxygen isotope (δ18O) measurements of authigenic carbonate from Cleland Lake (southeastern British Columbia), Paradise Lake (central British Columbia), and Lime Lake (eastern Washington) provide a ∼9000 year Holocene record of precipitation-evaporation balance variations in the PacificNorthwest. Both Cleland Lake and Paradise Lake are small, surficially closed-basin systems with no active inflows or outflows. Lime Lake is surficially open with a seasonally active overflow. Water isotope values from Cleland and Paradise plot along the local evaporation line, indicating that precipitation-evaporation balance is a strong influence on lake hydrology. In contrast, Lime Lake water isotope values plot on the local meteoric water line, signifying minimal influence by evaporation. To infer past hydrologic balance variations at a high temporal resolution, we sampled the Cleland, Paradise, and Lime Lake sediment cores at 1-60 mm intervals (∼3-33 years per sample on average) and measured the isotopic composition of fine-grained (ocean-atmosphere changes in the Pacific basin. Results from mid-Holocene (6000 yr BP) climate model simulations conducted as part of the Paleoclimate Modeling Intercomparison Project Phase 3 (PMIP3) indicate that in much of western North America, the cold season (October-March) was wetter and the warm season (April-September) was considerably drier relative to the late Holocene, leading to an overall drier climate in western North America with enhanced hydroclimatic seasonality. This is consistent with inferences from the Cleland and Paradise δ18O records, which lake modeling experiments indicate are strongly influenced by cold season precipitation-evaporation balance. This also explains apparent inconsistencies between the lake δ18O records and other proxies of hydroclimatic change from the greater PacificNorthwest region that are less sensitive to cold season climate and thus indicate relatively drier conditions during the mid-Holocene. The

Recently research has focused on the influence of climate indices on precipitation extremes. In the current study, we present the analysis of the precipitation-based extremes in Columbia River Basin (CRB) in the PacificNorth-West USA. We first analyzed the precipitation-based extreme indices using statistically downscaled past and future climate projections from ten GCMs. Seven different precipitation-based indices that help inform about the flood duration/intensity are used in the study. These indices would give firsthand information on spatial and temporal scales for different service sectors including energy, agriculture, forestry etc. in the area. Temporally, historical and future projections are analyzed over the whole CRB using ten CMIP5 models. For each scenario, we have mapped out these indices over the area to see the spatial variation of past and future extremes. The analysis shows that high values of extreme indices are clustered in either western or southern parts of the basin while northern part of the basin is experiencing high increase in the indices in future scenarios. Here we focus our attention on evaluating the relation of these extreme and climate indices in historical period to understand which climate indices have more impact on extremes over CRB. Various climate indices are evaluated for their relationship using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). Results indicated that, out of fifteen climate indices used in the study, CRB is being most affected negatively by East Pacific (EP), Western Pacific Index (WP), Eastern Asia (EA) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).

NANOOS is the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems, the PacificNorthwest Regional Association of the United States Integrated Ocean Observing System (US IOOS). User driven since its inception in 2003, this regional observing system is responding to a variety of scientific and societal needs across its coastal ocean, estuaries, and shorelines. Regional priorities have been solicited and re-affirmed through active engagement with users and stakeholders. NANOOS membership is composed of an even mix of academic, governmental, industry, and non-profit organizations, who appoint representatives to the NANOOS Governing Council who confirm the priority applications of the observing system. NANOOS regional priorities are: Maritime Operations, Regional Fisheries, Ecosystem Assessment, Coastal Hazards, and Climate. NANOOS' regional coastal ocean observing system is implemented by seven partners (three universities, three state agencies, and one industry). Together, these partners conduct the observations, modeling, data management and communication, analysis products, education and outreach activities of NANOOS. Observations, designed to span coastal ocean, shorelines, and estuaries, include physical, chemical, biological and geological measurements. To date, modeling has been more limited in scope, but has provided the system with increased coverage for some parameters. The data management and communication system for NANOOS, led by the NANOOS Visualization System (NVS) is the cornerstone of the user interaction with NANOOS. NVS gives users access to observational data, both real time and archived, as well as modeling output. Given the diversity of user needs, measurements, and the complexity of the coastal environment, the challenge for the system is large. NANOOS' successes take advantage of technological advances, including real-time data transmission, profiling buoys, gliders, HF radars, and modeling. The most profound challenges NANOOS faces stem

The PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) operates a number of Research & Development (R&D) facilities for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on the Hanford Site. Facility effluent monitoring plans (FEMPs) have been developed to document the facility effluent monitoring portion of the Environmental Monitoring Plan (DOE 2000) for the Hanford Site. Three of PNNL’s R&D facilities, the 325, 331, and 3720 Buildings, are considered major emission points for radionuclide air sampling, and individual FEMPs were developed for these facilities in the past. In addition, a balance-of-plant (BOP) FEMP was developed for all other DOE-owned, PNNL-operated facilities at the Hanford Site. Recent changes, including shutdown of buildings and transition of PNNL facilities to the Office of Science, have resulted in retiring the 3720 FEMP and combining the 331 FEMP into the BOP FEMP. This version of the BOP FEMP addresses all DOE-owned, PNNL-operated facilities at the Hanford Site, excepting the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory, which has its own FEMP because of the unique nature of the building and operations. Activities in the BOP facilities range from administrative to laboratory and pilot-scale R&D. R&D activities include both radioactive and chemical waste characterization, fluid dynamics research, mechanical property testing, dosimetry research, and molecular sciences. The mission and activities for individual buildings are described in Appendix A. Potential radioactive airborne emissions in the BOP facilities are estimated annually using a building inventory-based approach provided in federal regulations. Sampling at individual BOP facilities is based on a potential-to-emit assessment. Some of these facilities are considered minor emission points and thus are sampled routinely, but not continuously, to confirm the low emission potential. One facility, the 331 Life Sciences Laboratory, has a major emission point and is sampled continuously. Sampling systems are

The case studies in this document describe the Public Utilities, Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) development process for a variety of generating technologies. Developer interactions with regulatory agencies and power purchasers are described in some detail. Equipment, installation, and maintenance costs are identified; power marketing considerations are taken into account; and potential environmental impacts, with corresponding mitigation approaches and practices are summarized. The project development case studies were prepared by the energy agencies of the four Northwest states, under contract to the Bonneville Power Administration.

Staff exchanges, such as the one described in this report, are intended to facilitate communication and collaboration among scientists and engineers at Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories, in US industry, and academia. Funding support for these exchanges is provided by the DOE, Office of Energy Research, Laboratory Technology Transfer Program. The exchanges offer the opportunity for the laboratories to transfer technology and expertise to industry, gain a perspective on industry`s problems, and develop the basis for further cooperative efforts through Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) or other mechanisms. The objectives of this report were as follows: for PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) staff to present technology to General Motors (GM) staff on nondestructive measurement of hardened steel components and uniformity of particle dispersion in metal-matrix composites for evaluation for possible application in GM`s manufacturing processes; for GM staff to discuss with PNL staff common manufacturing processes, metallurgy, and flaw criteria for hardening of various components and manufacturing of metal-matrix composites; to provide an initial step in building a long-term collaborative relationship between PNL and GM. Information in this report on the staff exchange of PNL staff with GM Corporation includes the purpose and objectives, a summary of activities, significant accomplishments, significant problems, industry benefits realized, recommended follow-on work and potential benefits from that work, and three appendixes. Appendix A is a description of ultrasonic backscatter technology and its applications to the two nondestructive inspection interests defined by GM. Appendix B is a list of key contacts and the schedule of activities pertaining to the staff exchange. Appendix C is an article from American Society for Metals News relating to sensor needs.

Climate change is projected to jeopardize ecosystems in the PacificNorthwest. Managing ecosystems for future resilience requires collaboration, innovation and communication. The abundance of data and documents describing the uncertainty around both climate change projections and impacts has become challenging to managers who have little funding and limited time to digest and incorporate these materials into planning and implementation documents. We worked with US Forest Service and BLM managers to help them develop vulnerability assessments and identify on-the-ground strategies to address climate change challenges on the federal lands in northwest Oregon (Siuslaw, Willamette and Mt. Hood National Forests; Eugene and Salem BLM Districts). We held workshops to promote dialogue about climate change, which were particularly effective in fostering discussions between the managers who often do not have the time to share their knowledge and compare experiences across administrative boundaries. We used the Adaptation for Conservation Targets (ACT) framework to identify measurable management objectives and rapidly assess local vulnerabilities. We used databasin.org to centralize usable information, including state-of-the-art CMIP5 climate projections, for the mandated assessments of vulnerability and resilience. We introduced participants to a decision support framework providing opportunities to develop more effective adaptation strategies. We built a special web page to hold the information gathered at the workshops and provide easy access to climate change information. We are now working with several Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) to design gateways - conservation atlases - to their relevant data repositories on databasin.org and working with them to develop web tools that can provide usable information for their own vulnerability assessments.

In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project conducted the PacificNorthwest Stream Quality Assessment (PNSQA) to investigate stream quality across the western part of the PacificNorthwest. The goal of the PNSQA was to assess the health of streams in the region by characterizing multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to in-stream aquatic life and by evaluating the relation between these stressors and the condition of biological communities. The effects of urbanization and agriculture on stream quality for the Puget Lowland and Willamette Valley Level III Ecoregions were the focus of this regional study. Findings will help inform the public and policymakers about human and environmental factors that are the most critical in affecting stream quality and, thus, provide insights into possible strategies to protect or improve the health of streams in the region.Land-use data were used in the study to identify and select sites within the region that ranged in levels of urban and agricultural development. A total of 88 sites were selected across the region—69 were on streams that explicitly spanned a range of urban land use in their watersheds, 8 were on streams in agricultural watersheds, and 11 were reference sites with little or no development in their watersheds. Depending on the type of land use, sites were sampled for contaminants, nutrients, and sediment for either a 4- or 10-week period during April, May, and June 2015. This water-quality “index period” was immediately followed with an ecological survey of all sites that included stream habitat, benthic algae, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish. Additionally, streambed sediment was collected during the ecological survey for analysis of sediment chemistry and toxicity testing.This report provides a detailed description of the specific study components and methods of the PNSQA, including (1) surveys of stream habitat and aquatic biota, (2) discrete

We use data from the 118-station High Lava Plains (HLP) seismic experiment together with other regional broadband seismic data to image the 3D shear wave velocity structure in the PacificNorthwest using ambient noise tomography. This extensive data set allows us to resolve fine-scale crustal structures throughout the HLP area in greater detail than previous studies. Our results show 1) a high velocity cylinder in the crust and average velocities in the upper mantle beneath the Owyhee Plateau; 2) a mid-crustal high velocity anomaly along the Snake River Plain that also extends south into Nevada and Utah; 3) a low velocity anomaly directly beneath Yellowstone throughout the crust; and 4) low velocities beneath the HLP both in the crust and uppermost mantle, possibly indicating very thin or absent mantle lithosphere in the area. These features provide important constraints on possible models for Miocene to recent volcanism in the PacificNorthwest.

The PacificNorthwest Geodetic Array (PANGA) is now comprised of nearly 130 continuously operating GPS receivers located throughout the Cascadia subduction zone. The stations straddle active crustal faults, volcanoes and landslides, they span the megathrust forearc and tsunamigenic regions along the Pacific coast, and they monitor ageing man-made structures such as dams, levees and elevated freeways. All data are streamed in real-time into CWU where they are processed in real-time into station position and tropospheric water content within a reference frame defined in central Washington. To disseminate these streams, we currently provide 16 station position streams via an interface to Google Maps to present geographically the three component real-time plots in 5 min, 1 hour, and 24 hour time periods. The user's web browser makes repeated requests at a refresh rate of 5 seconds and after the initial request it only requests new data points from the web server. The 5 min real-time plot is updated every second. The web server provides the data streams in a compact JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) form and data plotting is handled by the user's web browser. The data streams are parsed into JavaScript arrays and plotted using the new HTML5 "canvas" element. This approach produces faster response times for the data streams, and by reducing the load on the web server, allows distribution to large numbers of users. Data are also available via a dedicated Ntrip/TCP-IP socket interface. These real-time data are now being used to monitor geodetic displacements caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and landslides; current efforts to develop real-time finite fault inversions and automated alarm systems will be discussed.

Infragravity waves are oceanic surface gravity waves but with wavelengths (tens of km) and periods (>30 s) much longer than wind waves and swell. Mostly studied in shallow water, knowledge of infragravity waves in deep water has remained limited. Recent interest in deep water infragravity waves has been motivated by the error they may contribute to future high-resolution satellite radar altimetry measurements of sea level. Here deep water infragravity waves offshore of the PacificNorthwest of the U.S. were studied using differential pressure gauges which were deployed as part of the Cascadia Initiative array from September 2012 to May 2013. Cross correlation of the records revealed direction of infragravity wave propagation across the array, from which source regions were inferred. The dominant source was found to be the coastline to the east, associated with large wind waves and swell incident on the eastern side of the basin. The source shifted southward during northern-hemisphere summer, and on several days in the record infragravity waves arrived from the western side of the Pacific. Asymmetry of cross-correlation functions for five of these westerly arrivals was used to calculate the ratio of seaward to shoreward propagating energy, and hence estimate the strength of infragravity wave reflection at periods of 100-200 s. Reflection of these remote arrivals from the west appeared to be strong, with a lower bound estimate of r = 0.49 ± 0.29 (reflection coefficient ± standard error) and an upper bound estimate of r = 0.74 ± 0.06. These results suggest that reflection at ocean boundaries may be an important consideration for infragravity waves in the deep ocean.

Abstract Background Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common chronic neurological disorder of the elderly. Despite the fact that a comprehensive review of general health care in the United States showed that the quality of care delivered to patients usually falls below professional standards, there is limited data on the quality of care for patients with PD. Methods Using the administrative database, the PacificNorthwest Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Data Warehouse, a popula...

Full Text Available Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a common marine bacterium and a leading cause of seafood-borne bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. Although this bacterium has been the subject of much research, the population structure of cold-water populations remains largely undescribed. We present a broad phylogenetic analysis of clinical and environmental V. parahaemolyticus originating largely from the PacificNorthwest coast of the United States. Repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR (REP-PCR separated 167 isolates into 39 groups and subsequent multilocus sequence typing (MLST separated a subset of 77 isolates into 24 sequence types. The PacificNorthwest population exhibited a semi-clonal structure attributed to an environmental clade (ST3, N = 17 isolates clonally related to the pandemic O3:K6 complex and a clinical clade (ST36, N = 20 isolates genetically related to a regionally endemic O4:K12 complex. Further, the identification of at least five additional clinical sequence types (i.e., ST43, 50, 65, 135 and 417 demonstrates that V. parahaemolyticus gastroenteritis in the PacificNorthwest is polyphyletic in nature. Recombination was evident as a significant source of genetic diversity and in particular, the recA and dtdS alleles showed strong support for frequent recombination. Although pandemic-related illnesses were not documented during the study, the environmental occurrence of the pandemic clone may present a significant threat to human health and warrants continued monitoring. It is evident that V. parahaemolyticus population structure in the PacificNorthwest is semi-clonal and it would appear that multiple sequence types are contributing to the burden of disease in this region.

.e. years with well below average rainfall) as compared to excess monsoon years (years with well above average rainfall). Based on these previously found associations involving various characteristics of convective activity in the region, this study seeks... and also on the quantum of monsoon rainfall for several contrasting monsoon years. 2. Data Data for convective systems in the northwestPacific Ocean (NWP) were acquired from the UNISYS website (http://weather.unisys.com) and originate from the Joint...

The 1992 Annual Report from PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) to the US Department of Energy (DOE) describes research in environment and health conducted during fiscal year 1992. This report consists of four volumes oriented to particular segments of the PNL program, describing research performed for the DOE Office of Health and Environmental Research in the Office of Energy Research. The parts of the 1992 Annual Report are: Biomedical Sciences; Environmental Sciences; Atmospheric Sciences; and Physical Sciences. This Report is Part 2: Environmental Sciences. Included in this report are developments in Subsurface Science, Terrestrial Science, Laboratory-Directed Research and Development, Interactions with Educational Institutions, Technology Transfer, Publications, and Presentations. The research is directed toward developing a fundamental understanding of subsurface and terrestrial systems as a basis for both managing these critical resources and addressing environmental problems such as environmental restoration and global change. The Technology Transfer section of this report describes a number of examples in which fundamental research is laying the groundwork for the technology needed to resolve important environmental problems. The Interactions with Educational Institutions section of the report illustrates the results of a long-term, proactive program to make PNL facilities available for university and preuniversity education and to involve educational institutions in research programs. The areas under investigation include the effect of geochemical and physical phenomena on the diversity and function of microorganisms in deep subsurface environments, ways to address subsurface heterogeneity, and ways to determine the key biochemical and physiological pathways (and DNA markers) that control nutrient, water, and energy dynamics in arid ecosystems and the response of these systems to disturbance and climatic change.

The Clarno Formation, a mostly Eocene and partly early Oligocene sequence of andesitic lavas and volcaniclastic rocks, is the oldest Tertiary formation exposed in north central Oregon. Remanent magnetization directions at 46 sites in the lavas provide a paleomagnetic pole at 84°N, 278°E with a 95% confidence cone of 7°. Comparison of this pole with the North American reference pole for Eocene time indicates that the Clarno Formation has rotated 16° clockwise with an uncertainty of 10° but has undergone no significant latitudinal displacement. Further comparison with paleomagnetic data from the Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group and Steens Basalt shows that large-scale block rotations in the eastern Columbia Embayment ceased sometime between 38 m.y. and 15 m.y. A paleogeographic reconstruction for 38 m.y. is offered which is consistent with the observed rotation of the Clarno and with the other paleomagnetic data from the PacificNorthwest, which are briefly reviewed. This reconstruction shows that it is possible to account for virtually all of the paleomagnetically indicated rotations in pre-Miocene Tertiary rocks of the PacificNorthwest by an extensional tectonic model. As a consequence, only part of the rotations in the pre-Tertiary rocks of the eastern Columbia Embayment need to be the result of accretionary tectonics. The initiation of magmatism in the eastern Columbia Embayment that is represented by the Clarno Formation itself may have been contemporaneous with the beginning of crustal extension in the PacificNorthwest.

Based on the daily turbulent heat fluxes and related meteorological variables dataeets (1985-2006) from Objectively Analyzed air-sea Fluxes (OAFlux) Project of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), characteristics of low-frequency oscillation intensity of air-sea turbulent heat fluxes over the northwestPacific are analyzed by linear perturbation method and correlation analysis. It can be concluded that: 1) the distribution of low-frequency oscillation intensity of latent heat flux (LHF) over the northwestPacific is mainly affected by that of low-frequency oscillation intensity of anomalous air-eea humidity gradient (△q') as well as mean air-eea humidity gradient (△q), while the distribution of low-frequency oscillation Intensity of sensible heat flux (SHF) is mainly affected by that of low-frequency oscillation intensity of anomalous air-sea temperature gradient (△T'). 2) The low-frequency oscillation of turbulent heat fluxes over the northwestPacific is the strongest in winter and the weakest in summer. And the seasonal transition of low-frequency oscillation intensity of LHF is jointly influenced by those of low-frequency oscillation intensity of △q', low-frequency oscillation intensity of anomalous wind speed (U'), △q and mean wind speed (U), while the seasonal transition of low-frequency oscillation intensity of SHF is mainly influenced by those of low-frequency oscillation Intensity of △T' and U. 3) Over the tropical west Pacific and sea areas north of 20ON, the low-frequency oscillation of LHF (SHF) is mainly influenced by atmospheric variables qa' (Ta') and U', indicating an oceanic response to overlying atmospheric forcing. In contrast, over the tropical eastern and central Pacific south of 20°N, qs' (Ts') also greatly influences the low-frequency oscillation of LHF (SHF).

Full Text Available The Forestry Reclamation Approach uses uncompacted, mounded spoils to reforest mined-land and has been successful in hardwood forests in the Appalachian region. A surface coalmine reclamation site in the PacificNorthwest was used to compare the site’s standard reclamation approach (Reference with a modified version of the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA along with a modified FRA treatment that also incorporated an amendment of bottom ash from the coal burning power plant on-site (FRA + Ash. Survival and growth were followed for three growing seasons in bareroot and container Douglas-fir seedlings. Soil characteristics and understory cover were also assessed. Considerable variation in microsite characteristics was observed in the study area. Container seedlings did not improve survival compared to bareroot seedlings. In the soil reclamation treatments, seedling survival was significantly higher in FRA + Ash treatments compared to FRA and Reference treatments at the end of the second growing season. Survival declined in each year of the study, but the order of treatment effectiveness did not change. Relativized growth increment was significantly higher in the FRA treatment compared to both the Reference and FRA + Ash treatments during the third growing season. Understory cover was established after three years, but varied substantially across the study area.

High winds common to the PacificNorthwest region of the USA have resulted in massive loss of topsoil from agricultural fields that are primarily managed in a winter wheat / summer fallow rotation. This topsoil contains nitrogen (N), an essential nutrient required for growth and development of plants. Loss of N from soils can cause degradation of air and water quality and also is an economic concern to farmers because depletion of nutrients from soils results in lower crop yield. Flux of windblown sediment moving across eroding fields was measured during high wind events between 1999 and 2006 in eastern Washington. Samplers were deployed to trap sediment that was creeping along or in saltation/suspension at various heights above fields that were in the summer fallow phase of the rotation. Windblown sediment was weighed and analyzed for N content by combustion and a thermal conductivity analyzer. Enrichment, or the ratio of N in the windblown sediment to soil of greater than one, was observed in about half of the years. For nearly all high wind events, N content of sediment transported by creep was greater than sediment transported by saltation or suspension. This study suggests that wind erosion can result in loss of N from agricultural soils.

Since its inception in 1995, the University of Washington's Climate Impacts Group (CIG) (funded under NOAA's Regional Integrated Science and Assessments (RISA) Program) has become the leader in exploring the impacts of climate variability and climate change on natural and human systems in the U.S. PacificNorthwest (PNW), specifically climate impacts on water, forest, fish and coastal resource systems. The CIG's research provides PNW planners, decision makers, resource managers, local media, and the general public with valuable knowledge of ways in which the region's key natural resources are vulnerable to changes in climate, and how this vulnerability can be reduced. The CIG engages in climate science in the public interest, conducting original research on the causes and consequences of climate variability and change for the PNW and developing forecasts and decision support tools to support the use of this information in federal, state, local, tribal, and private sector resource management decisions. The CIG's focus on the intersection of climate science and public policy has placed the CIG nationally at the forefront of regional climate impacts assessment and integrated analysis.

Many recent studies of cultural inheritance have focused on small-scale craft traditions practised by single individuals, which do not require coordinated participation by larger social collectives. In this paper, we address this gap in the cultural transmission literature by investigating diversity in the vernacular architecture of the Pacificnorthwest coast, where communities of hunter-fisher-gatherers constructed immense wooden long-houses at their main winter villages. Quantitative analyses of long-house styles along the coastline draw on a range of models and methods from the biological sciences and are employed to test hypotheses relating to basic patterns of macro-scale cultural diversification, and the degree to which the transmission of housing traits has been constrained by the region's numerous linguistic boundaries. The results indicate relatively strong branching patterns of cultural inheritance and also close associations between regional language history and housing styles, pointing to the potentially crucial role played by language boundaries in structuring large-scale patterns of cultural diversification, especially in relation to 'collective' cultural traditions like housing that require substantial inputs of coordinated labour.

Three types of exaggerated speech are thought to be systematic responses to accommodate the needs of the listener: child-directed speech (CDS), hyperspeech, and the Lombard response. CDS (e.g., Kuhl et al., 1997) occurs in interactions with young children and infants. Hyperspeech (Johnson et al., 1993) is a modification in response to listeners difficulties in recovering the intended message. The Lombard response (e.g., Lane et al., 1970) is a compensation for increased noise in the signal. While all three result from adaptations to accommodate the needs of the listener, and therefore should share some features, the triggering conditions are quite different, and therefore should exhibit differences in their phonetic outcomes. While CDS has been the subject of a variety of acoustic studies, it has never been studied in the broader context of the other ``exaggerated'' speech styles. A large crosslinguistic study was undertaken that compares speech produced under four conditions: spontaneous conversations, CDS aimed at 6-9-month-old infants, hyperarticulated speech, and speech in noise. This talk will present some findings for North American English as spoken in the PacificNorthwest. The measures include f0, vowel duration, F1 and F2 at vowel midpoint, and intensity.

The storage-discharge relationships of 26 watersheds in the inland PacificNorthwest of the United States were analyzed. Four fitting methods were used to obtain the baseflow coefficients: lower envelope, organic correlation, and ordinary and inverse least squares. Several climatic and terrain attributes were evaluated as predictors of baseflow coefficients. Watersheds dominated by basalt and flatter landscapes exhibited the smallest recession time scales ( K) (12.5-20.0 days). Greater K values (33.3-66.7 days) were obtained over catchments dominated by metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. Mean basin slope and the aridity index were found to be the best estimators of baseflow coefficients. Baseflow in flat basalt landscapes, located in dry warm climates, decrease rapidly during summer months and are most sensitive to future droughts and warming climates. Groundwater systems feeding streams during the driest months can drop to less than 1 mm of effective storage in these sensitive systems. In contrast, the minimum annual storage in mountainous systems can have greater than 10 mm effective storage. By understanding the main factors controlling baseflow recession characteristics, environmental agencies could prioritize efforts in areas where future droughts and land use changes may affect ecological assemblages and socio-economic activities.

This report summarizes progress in environmental sciences research conducted by PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) for the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Health and Environmental Research in FY 1991. Each project in the PNL research program is a component in an integrated laboratory, intermediate-scale, and field approach designed to examine multiple phenomena at increasing levels of complexity. Examples include definition of the role of fundamental geochemical and physical phenomena on the diversity and function of microorganisms in the deep subsurface, and determination of the controls on nutrient, water, and energy dynamics in arid ecosystems and their response to stress at the landscape scale. The Environmental Science Research Center has enable PNL to extend fundamental knowledge of subsurface science to develop emerging new concepts for use in natural systems and in environmental restoration of DOE sites. New PNL investments have been made in developing advanced concepts for addressing chemical desorption kinetics, enzyme transformations and redesign, the role of heterogeneity in contaminant transport, and modeling of fundamental ecological processes.

The objective of this study was to estimate the relationship between residential space conditioning energy use and building conservation programs in the PacificNorthwest. The study was divided into two primary tasks. In the first, the thermal relationship between space conditioning energy consumption under controlled conditions and the physical characteristics of the residence was estimated. In this task, behavioral characteristics such as occupant schedules and thermostat settings were controlled in order to isolate the physical relationships. In the second task, work from the first task was used to calculate the thermal efficiency of a residence's shell. Thermal efficiency was defined as the ability of a shell to prevent escapement of heat generated within a building. The relationship between actual space conditioning energy consumption and the shell thermal efficiency was then estimated. Separate thermal equations for mobile homes, single-family residences, and multi-family residences are presented. Estimates of the relationship between winter electricity consumption for heating and the building's thermal shell efficiency are presented for each of the three building categories.

Many recent studies of cultural inheritance have focused on small-scale craft traditions practised by single individuals, which do not require coordinated participation by larger social collectives. In this paper, we address this gap in the cultural transmission literature by investigating diversity in the vernacular architecture of the Pacificnorthwest coast, where communities of hunter–fisher–gatherers constructed immense wooden long-houses at their main winter villages. Quantitative analyses of long-house styles along the coastline draw on a range of models and methods from the biological sciences and are employed to test hypotheses relating to basic patterns of macro-scale cultural diversification, and the degree to which the transmission of housing traits has been constrained by the region's numerous linguistic boundaries. The results indicate relatively strong branching patterns of cultural inheritance and also close associations between regional language history and housing styles, pointing to the potentially crucial role played by language boundaries in structuring large-scale patterns of cultural diversification, especially in relation to ‘collective’ cultural traditions like housing that require substantial inputs of coordinated labour. PMID:21041212

Studies have been conducted at Battelle, PacificNorthwest Laboratory, to examine extremely-low-frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields for possible biological effects in animals. Three areas of investigation are reported here: (1) studies on the nervous system, including behavior and neuroendocrine function, (2) experiments on cancer development in animals, and (3) measurements of currents and electric fields induced in animal models by exposure to external magnetic fields. In behavioral experiments, rats have been shown to be responsive to ELF electric field exposure. Furthermore, experimental data indicate that short-term memory may be affected in albino rats exposed to combined ELF and static magnetic fields. Neuroendocrine studies have been conducted to demonstrate an apparent stress-related response in rats exposed to 60-Hz electric fields. Nighttime pineal melatonin levels have been shown to be significantly depressed in animals exposed to either electric or magnetic fields. A number of animal tumor models are currently under investigation to examine possible relationships between ELF exposure and carcinogenesis. Finally, theoretical and experimental measurements have been performed which form the basis for animals and human exposure comparisons.

This Executive Summary outlines the general processes employed in and the major findings from the conduct of Phase I of the PacificNorthwest Residential Energy Survey (PNWRES92-I) during the last quarter of 1992. This study was Bonneville`s third comprehensive residential survey of the region, conducted to provide data on energy usage, conservation awareness and behaviors, and associated consumer characteristics for use in forecasting and planning. The summary is divided into four sections: Background sets the stage with respect to the need for the survey, relates it to previous work, outlines the implementation processes, and summarizes the data products. Profiling the respondents summarizes the survey results under these six categories: Demographics; Housing Units; Room Inventory; Appliance Inventory; Air-Conditioning/Heating; Water-Heating; and Opinion. Reports and cross-tabulations describes the various individual documents. Bonneville Power Plus provides a short description of an Excel-spreadsheet-based software program that contains all of the tabulated material in a format that encourages browsing among the tables and charts, with special feature that they can be copied directly into other Windows-based documents.

The PacificNorthwest National Laboratory`s Integrated Assessment Program (IAP) is the primary system to assess and monitor overall performance and to drive continuous improvement in the Laboratory. The approach used is a significant departure from the Laboratory`s traditional reliance on auditing methods. It is a move toward the contemporary concepts of measuring organizational performance by encouraging scientific, operational, and business excellence, through self-assessment and strengthening line management accountability for results in product and service quality, safety, and cost. This report describes the approach used (methods and processes), the deployment of that approach in the six Laboratory organizations selected to pilot the approach, and a summary of how the pilot organizations used the results they obtained. Section 3.0 of this report summarizes the top strengths and weaknesses in performance as identified by Division/Directorate self-assessments, Independent Oversight, Internal Audit and peer reviews, and includes the actions that have been, or will be taken, to improve performance in areas that are weak.

The general processes employed in and the major findings from the conduct of Phase I of the PacificNorthwest Residential Energy Survey (PNWRES92-I) during the last quarter of 1992 are outlined. This was Bonneville's third comprehensive residential survey of the region, conducted to provide data on energy usage, conservation awareness and behaviors, and associated consumer characteristics for use in forecasting and planning. The summary is divided into four sections: Background sets the stage with respect to the need for the survey, relates it to previous work, outlines the implementation processes, and summarizes the data products. Profiling the respondents summarizes the survey results under these six categories: Demographics, Housing Units, Room Inventory, Appliance Inventory, Air-Conditioning/Heating/Water-Heating, and Opinion. Reports and Cross-tabulations describes the various individual documents. Bonneville Power Pulse provides a short description of an Excel-spreadsheet-based software program that contains all of the tabulated material in a format that encourages browsing among the tables and charts, with special feature that they can be copied directly into other Windows-based documents.

State-of-the-art treaty verification techniques, environmental surveillance, and physics experiments require increased sensitivity for detecting and quantifying radionuclides of interest. This can be accomplished with new detector designs that establish high detection efficiency and reduced instrument backgrounds. Current research is producing an intrinsic germanium (HPGe) array designed for high detection efficiency, ultra-low-background performance, and sensitive {gamma}-{gamma} coincidence detection. The system design is optimized to accommodate filter paper samples, e.g., samples collected by the Radionuclide Aerosol Sampler/Analyzer. The system will provide high sensitivity for weak collections on atmospheric filter samples (e.g., < 10{sup 5} fissions), as well as offering the potential to gather additional information from higher activity filters using gamma cascade coincidence detection. The first of two HPGe crystal arrays in ultra-low-background vacuum cryostats has been assembled, with the second in progress. Traditional methods for constructing ultra-low-background detectors were followed, including use of materials known to be low in radioactive contaminants, use of ultra-pure reagents, and clean room assembly. The cryostat is constructed mainly from copper electroformed into near-final geometry at PacificNorthwest National Laboratory. Details of the detector assembly and initial background and spectroscopic measurement results are presented; also a description of the custom analysis package used by this project is given.

The PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) operates a number of research and development (R and D) facilities for the Department of Energy on the Hanford Site. According to DOE Order 5400.1, a Facility Effluent Monitoring Plan is required for each site, facility, or process that uses, generates, releases, or manages significant pollutants or hazardous materials. Three of the R and D facilities: the 325, 331, and 3720 Buildings, are considered major emission points for radionuclide air sampling and thus individual Facility Effluent Monitoring Plans (FEMPs) have been developed for them. Because no definition of ''significant'' is provided in DOE Order 5400.1 or the accompanying regulatory guide DOE/EH-0173T, this FEMP was developed to describe monitoring requirements in the DOE-owned, PNNL-operated facilities that do not have individual FEMPs. The remainder of the DOE-owned, PNNL-operated facilities are referred to as Balance-of-Plant (BOP) facilities. Activities in the BOP facilities range from administrative to laboratory and pilot-scale R and D. R and D activities include both radioactive and chemical waste characterization, fluid dynamics research, mechanical property testing, dosimetry research, and molecular sciences. The mission and activities for individual buildings are described in the FEMP.

Biological invasions can have dramatic effects on freshwater ecosystems and introduced crayfish can be particularly impacting. We document crayfish distribution in three large hydrographic basins (Rogue, Umpqua, Willamette/Columbia) in the PacificNorthwest USA. We used occupancy analyses to investigate habitat relationships and evidence for displacement of native Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana, 1852) by two invaders. We found invasive Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852), in 51 of 283 sites and in all three hydrographic basins. We found invasive Orconectes n. neglectus (Faxon, 1885) at 68% of sites in the Rogue basin and provide first documentation of their broad distribution in the Umpqua basin. We found P. clarkii in both lentic and lotic habitats, and it was positively associated with manmade sites. P. leniusculus was positively associated with lotic habitats and negatively related to manmade sites. In the Rogue and Umpqua basins, O. n. neglectus and P. leniusculus were similar in their habitat associations. We did not find a negative relationship in site occupancy between O. n. neglectus and P. leniusculus. Our data suggest that P. clarkii has potential to locally displace P. leniusculus. There is still time for preventive measures to limit the spread of the invasive crayfish in this region.

In January 1993, PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established an area monitoring dosimeter program in accordance with Article 514 of the Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Control Manual (RCM). The purpose of the program was to minimize the number of areas requiring issuance of personnel dosimeters and to demonstrate that doses outside Radiological Buffer Areas are negligible. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 835.402 (a)(1)-(4) and Article 511.1 of the RCM, personnel dosimetry shall be provided to (1) radiological workers who are likely to receive at least 100 mrem annually and (2) declared pregnant workers, minors, and members of the public who are likely to receive at least 50 mrem annually. Program results for calendar years 1993-1997 confirmed that personnel dosimetry was not needed for individuals located in areas monitored by the program. A total of 97 area thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) were placed in PNNL facilities during calendar year 1998. The TLDs were exchanged and analyzed quarterly. All routine area monitoring TLD results were less than 50 mrem annually after correcting for worker occupancy. The results support the conclusion that personnel dosimeters are not necessary for staff, declared pregnant workers, minors, or members of the public in these monitored areas.

The PacificNorthwest Consortium-Collaborative Access Team (PNC-CAT) has begun operating an insertion device beamline at the Advanced Photon Source. The beamline has been extensively used for XAFS studies. This paper summarizes its capabilities, and our initial operational experience. The beamline is based on APS undulator A, and incorporates full undulator scanning. The monochromator is liquid nitrogen cooled and has both Si(111) and Si(311) crystals in a side-by-side configuration. Crystal changes only take a few minutes. The crystals cover the energy range from 3-50 keV with fluxes as high as 2x10(13) ph/sec. Microbeams can be produced using Kirkpatrick-Baez mirrors (spot size 1-3 microm) or tapered capillaries (sub-microm spots). When these optics are combined with a 13-element Ge detector, the beamline provides powerful microbeam imaging and spectroscopy capabilities. Experimental examples from the environmental field and in-situ UHV film growth will be discussed.

In January 1993, PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established an area monitoring dosimeter program in accordance with Article 514 of the Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Control Manual (RCM). The purpose of the program was to minimize the number of areas requiring issuance of personnel dosimeters and to demonstrate that doses outside Radiological buffer Areas are negligible. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 835.402 (a) (1)-(3) and Article 511.1 of the RCM, personnel dosimetry shall be provided to (1) radiological workers who are likely to receive at least 100 mrem annually and (2) declared pregnant workers, minors, and members of the public who are likely to receive at least 50 mrem annually. Program results for calendar years 1993, 1994, and 1995 confirmed that personnel dosimetry was not needed for individuals located in areas monitored by the program. A total of 108 area TLDs were placed in PNNL facilities during CY 1996. The TLDs were exchanged and analyzed quarterly. All routine area monitoring TLD results were less than 50 mrem annually after correcting for worker occupancy. The results support the conclusion that personnel dosimeters are not necessary for staff, declared pregnant workers, minors, or members of the public in these monitored areas.

In January 1993, PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established an area monitoring dosimeter program in accordance with Article 514 of the US Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Control Manual (RCM). The purpose of the program was to minimize the number of areas requiring issuance of personnel dosimeters and to demonstrate that doses outside Radiological Buffer Areas are negligible. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 835.402 (a) (1)--(3) and Article 511.1 of the RCM, personnel dosimetry shall be provided to (1) radiological workers who are likely to receive at least 100 mrem annually, and (2) declared pregnant workers, minors, and members of the public who are likely to receive at least 50 mrem annually. Program results for calendar years (CY) 1993--1996 confirmed that personnel dosimetry was not needed for individuals located in areas monitored by the program. A total of 93 area thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) were placed in PNNL facilities during CY 1997. The TLDs were exchanged and analyzed quarterly. All routine area monitoring TLD results were less than 50 mrem annually after correcting for worker occupancy. The results support the conclusions that personnel dosimeters are not necessary for staff, declared pregnant workers, minors, or members of the public in these monitored areas.

This report provides a perspective on environmental water temperatures in the PacificNorthwest as they relate to the establishment of water temperature standards by the state and their review by the US Environmental Protection Agency. It is a companion to other detailed reviews of the literature on thermal effects on organisms important to the region. Many factors, both natural and anthropogenic, affect water temperatures in the region. Different environmental zones have characteristic temperatures and mechanisms that affect them. There are specific biotic adaptations to environmental temperatures. Life-cycle strategies of salmonids, in particular, are attuned to annual temperature patterns. Physiological and behavioral requirements on key species form the basis of present water temperature criteria, but may need to be augmented with more concern for environmental settings. There are many issues in the setting of standards, and these are discussed. There are also issues in compliance. Alternative temperature-regulating mechanisms are discussed, as are examples of actions to control water temperatures in the environment. Standards-setting is a social process for which this report should provide background and outline options, alternatives, limitations, and other points for discussion by those in the region.

We used reverse time capture-mark-recapture models to describe associations between rate of population change (??) and climate for northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) at six long-term study areas in Washington and Oregon, USA. Populations in three of six areas showed strong evidence of declining populations, while populations in two additional areas were likely declining as well. At four areas, ?? was positively associated with wetter-than-normal conditions during the growing season, which likely affects prey availability. Lambda was also negatively associated with cold, wet winters and nesting seasons, and the number of hot summer days. The amount of annual variation in ?? accounted for by climate varied across study areas (3-85%). Rate of population change was more sensitive to adult survival than to recruitment; however, there was considerable variation among years and across study areas for all demographic rates. While annual survival was more closely related to regional climate conditions, recruitment was often associated with local weather. In addition to climate, declines in recruitment at four of six areas were associated with increased presence of barred owls. Climate change models predict warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers for the PacificNorthwest in the first half of the 21st century. Our results indicate that these conditions have the potential to negatively affect annual survival, recruitment, and consequently population growth rates for northern spotted owls. ?? 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Full Text Available Summer streamflows in the PacificNorthwest are largely derived from melting snow and groundwater discharge. As the climate warms, diminishing snowpack and earlier snowmelt will cause reductions in summer streamflow. Most assessments of the impacts of a changing climate to streamflow make use of downscaled temperature and precipitation projections from General Circulation Models (GCMs. Projected climate simulations from these GCMs are often too coarse for planning purposes, as they do not capture smaller scale topographic controls and other important watershed processes. This uncertainty is further amplified when downscaled climate predictions are coupled to macroscale hydrologic models that fail to capture streamflow contributions from deep groundwater. Deep aquifers play an important role in mediating streamflow response to climate change, and groundwater needs to be explicitly incorporated into sensitivity assessments. Here we develop and apply an analytical framework for characterizing summer streamflow sensitivity to a change in the timing and magnitude of recharge in a spatially-explicit fashion. Two patterns emerge from this analysis: first, areas with high streamflow sensitivity also have higher summer streamflows as compared to low sensitivity areas. Second, the level of sensitivity and spatial extent of highly sensitive areas diminishes over time as the summer progresses. Results of this analysis point to a robust, practical, and scalable approach that can help assess risk at the landscape scale, complement the downscaling approach, be applied to any climate scenario of interest, and provide a framework to assist land and water managers adapt to an uncertain and potentially challenging future.

This study presents laser step-heating 40Ar/39Ar age determinations of basaltic lava samples from Tamu Massif, the oldest and largest edifice of the submarine Shatsky Rise in the northwestPacific and Earth's proposed largest volcano. The rocks were recovered during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 324, which cored 160 m into the igneous basement near the summit of Tamu Massif. The analyzed lavas cover all three major stratigraphic groups penetrated at this site and confirm a Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous age for the onset of Shatsky Rise volcanism. Lavas analyzed from the lower and middle section of the hole yield plateau ages between 144.4 ± 1.0 and 143.1 ± 3.3 Ma with overlapping analytical errors (2σ), whereas a sample from the uppermost lava group produced a significantly younger age of 133.9 ± 2.3 Ma suggesting a late or rejuvenated phase of volcanism. The new geochronological data infer minimum (average) melt production rates of 0.63-0.84 km3/a over a time interval of 3-4 million years consistent with the presence of a mantle plume.

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) Demand Response Research Center (DRRC) demonstrated and evaluated open automated demand response (OpenADR) communication infrastructure to reduce winter morning and summer afternoon peak electricity demand in commercial buildings the Seattle area. LBNL performed this demonstration for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in the Seattle City Light (SCL) service territory at five sites: Seattle Municipal Tower, Seattle University, McKinstry, and two Target stores. This report describes the process and results of the demonstration. OpenADR is an information exchange model that uses a client-server architecture to automate demand-response (DR) programs. These field tests evaluated the feasibility of deploying fully automated DR during both winter and summer peak periods. DR savings were evaluated for several building systems and control strategies. This project studied DR during hot summer afternoons and cold winter mornings, both periods when electricity demand is typically high. This is the DRRC project team's first experience using automation for year-round DR resources and evaluating the flexibility of commercial buildings end-use loads to participate in DR in dual-peaking climates. The lessons learned contribute to understanding end-use loads that are suitable for dispatch at different times of the year. The project was funded by BPA and SCL. BPA is a U.S. Department of Energy agency headquartered in Portland, Oregon and serving the PacificNorthwest. BPA operates an electricity transmission system and markets wholesale electrical power at cost from federal dams, one non-federal nuclear plant, and other non-federal hydroelectric and wind energy generation facilities. Created by the citizens of Seattle in 1902, SCL is the second-largest municipal utility in America. SCL purchases approximately 40% of its electricity and the majority of its transmission from BPA through a preference contract. SCL also

The PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) currently houses 88 samples (~10.5 kg) of K Basin sludge (81 wet and seven dry samples) on behalf of the Sludge Treatment Project (STP), which is managed for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by the CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC). Selected samples are intended to serve, in part, as sentinels to enhance understanding of sludge properties after long-term storage, and thus enhance understanding of sludge behavior following transfer to sludge transfer and storage containers (STSCs) and storage at the Hanford 200 Area central plateau. In addition, remaining samples serve in contingency for future testing requirements. At PNNL, the samples are tracked and maintained under a prescriptive and disciplined monthly sample-monitoring program implemented by PNNL staff. This report updates the status of the K Basin archive sludge sample inventory to April 2014. The previous inventory status report, PNNL 22245 (Fiskum et al. 2013, limited distribution report), was issued in February of 2013. This update incorporates changes in the inventory related to repackaging of 17 samples under test instructions 52578 TI052, K Basin Sludge Sample Repackaging for Continued Long Term Storage, and 52578 TI053, K Basin Sludge Sample Repackaging Post-2014 Shear Strength Measurements. Note that shear strength measurement results acquired in 2014 are provided separately. Specifically, this report provides the following: • a description of the K Basin sludge sample archive program and the sample inventory • a summary and images of the samples that were repackaged in April 2014 • up-to-date images and plots of the settled density and water loss from all applicable samples in the inventory • updated sample pedigree charts, which provide a roadmap of the genesis and processing history of each sample in the inventory • occurrence and deficiency reports associated with sample storage and repackaging

Full Text Available Adaptive ecosystem management has been adopted as a goal for decision making by several of the land management and regulatory agencies of the U.S. government. One of the first attempts to implement ecosystem management was undertaken on the federally managed forests of the PacificNorthwest in 1994. In addition to a network of reserve areas intended to restore habitat for late-successional terrestrial and aquatic species, "adaptive management areas" (AMAs were established. These AMAs were intended to be focal areas for implementing innovative methods of ecological conservation and restoration and meeting economic and social goals. This paper analyzes the primary ecological, social, and institutional issues of concern to one AMA in the Coast Range in northern Oregon. Based on existing knowledge, several divergent approaches are available that could meet ecological goals, but these approaches differ greatly in their social and economic implications. In particular, approaches that rely on the natural succession of the existing landscape or attempt to recreate historical patterns may not meet ecosystem goals for restoration as readily as an approach based on the active manipulation of existing structure and composition. In addition, institutions are still adjusting to recent changes in management priorities. Although some innovative projects have been developed, adaptive management in its most rigorous sense is still in its infancy. Indeed, functional social networks that support adaptive management may be required before policy and scientific innovations can be realized. The obstacles to adaptive management in this case are similar to those encountered by other efforts of this type, but the solutions will probably have to be local and idiosyncratic to be effective.

Mercury (Hg) contamination of stream salamanders in the PacificNorthwest region of the United States has received little attention. Here we report total Hg (HgT) and methyl mercury (MeHg) concentrations in larval giant salamanders (Dicamptodon spp.) and surface water from forested and chaparral lotic ecosystems distributed along a latitudinal gradient throughout Northern California and Washington. To test hypotheses related to potential effects from mining land-use activities, salamander larvae were also sampled from a reference site at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, California, and at a nearby, upstream site (Shasta county) on Bureau of Land Management land where Hg contamination from gold mining activities has been documented. HgT concentrations in whole body larvae ranged from 4.6 to 74.5 ng/g wet wt. and percent MeHg ranged from 67% to 86%. Both HgT and MeHg larval tissue concentrations were significantly higher at the mining site in comparison to measured background levels (P salamander larvae in remote stream ecosystems, where Hg sources were dominated by atmospheric deposition, were generally low in HgT and MeHg and, in comparison, watersheds with a legacy of land-use practices (i.e., mining operations) had approximately 4.5 - 5.5 times the level of HgT bioaccumulation. Moreover, trophic magnification slopes were highest in the Shasta county region where mining was present. These findings suggest that mining activities increase HgT and MeHg exposure to salamander larvae in the region and may present a threat to other higher trophically positioned organisms, and their associated food webs.

Since 1997, cases of Vibrio parahaemolyticus-related gastroenteritis from the consumption of raw oysters harvested in Washington State have been higher than historical levels. These cases have shown little or no correlation with concentrations of potentially pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus (positive for the thermostable direct hemolysin gene, tdh) in oysters, although significant concentrations of tdh(+) V. parahaemolyticus strains were isolated from shellfish-growing areas in the PacificNorthwest (PNW). We compared clinical and environmental strains isolated from the PNW to those from other geographic regions within the United States and Asia for the presence of virulence-associated genes, including the thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh), the thermostable-related hemolysin (trh), urease (ureR), the pandemic group specific markers orf8 and toxRS, and genes encoding both type 3 secretion systems (T3SS1 and T3SS2). The majority of clinical strains from the PNW were positive for tdh, trh, and ureR genes, while a significant proportion of environmental isolates were tdh(+) but trh negative. Hierarchical clustering grouped the majority of these clinical isolates into a cluster distinct from that including the pandemic strain RIMD2210633, clinical isolates from other geographical regions, and tdh(+), trh-negative environmental isolates from the PNW. We detected T3SS2-related genes (T3SS2β) in environmental strains that were tdh and trh negative. The presence of significant concentrations of tdh(+), trh-negative environmental strains in the PNW that have not been responsible for illness and T3SS2β in tdh- and trh-negative strains emphasizes the diversity in this species and the need to identify additional virulence markers for this bacterium to improve risk assessment tools for the detection of this pathogen.

Recession of mountain glaciers in partially glacierized headwater catchments has the potential to impact watershed dynamics in a range of ways, including reduced low flows, erosion of exposed steep soils, increased sediment transport, and ecosystem succession. The response of glaciers and glacierized watershed processes to progressive climatic warming will vary greatly with local environmental attributes (aspect, hypsometry, slope, debris cover) and climatic forcing (topography driven climatic gradients, prevailing wind direction, precipitation variability and perturbation). To identify the relative influence of these controlling factors and to identify locations where these changes will have significant influence on stream discharge in the U.S. PacificNorthwest (PNW), we gather a rich data set of glacio-hydrological variables and use a recently developed glacio-hydrology model in conjunction with data to evaluate the hydrologic response of partially glacierized river basins at a range of spatial and temporal scales. The distributed hydrologic modeling framework, which incorporates a physical representation of changes in glacier area through glacier dynamics, allows the analysis of hydrologic and glaciological change at extended temporal and fine spatial scales. Among the river basins we examine are the Hoh River on the Olympic Peninsula of Western Washington, the Hood River in Northern Oregon, the Nisqually River in the Puget Sound drainage basin, and multiple watersheds in the North Cascades Region. For each of these basins, tipping points of hydrologic response to glacier recession are identified and projected. We 1) describe varied patterns of coupled glacio-hydrologic response 2) identify influential environmental controls and 3) identify vulnerable areas in space and time. We close with a discussion of the implications of ongoing and projected glacio-hydrologic changes for the management of water and natural resources in the PNW.

Oceanic plateaus are large igneous provinces formed by extraordinary eruptions that create thick oceanic crust, whose structure is poorly known owing to the lack of deep-penetration seismic data. Multichannel seismic (MCS) reflection and wide-angle refraction data allow us to show Moho structure beneath a large part of the Shatsky Rise oceanic plateau in the northwestPacific Ocean. Moho reflectors in the two data sets can be connected to trace the interface from the adjacent abyssal plain across much of the interior. The reflectors display varied character in continuity, shape, and amplitude, similar to characteristics reported in other locations. Beneath normal crust, the Moho is observed at ∼13 km depth (∼7 km below the seafloor) in MCS data and disappears at ∼20 km depth (∼17 km below the seafloor) beneath the high plateau. Moho at the distal flanks dips downward towards the center with slopes of ∼0.5°-1°, increasing to 3°-5° at the middle flanks. Seismic Moho topography is consistent with Airy isostasy, confirming this widely-applied assumption. Data from this study show that crustal thickness between the massifs in the interior of the plateau is nearly twice normal crustal thickness, despite the fact that this crust records apparently normal seafloor spreading magnetic lineations. The Moho model allows improved estimates of plateau area (5.33 ×105 km2) and volume (6.90 ×106 km3), the latter assuming that the entire crust was formed by Shatsky Rise volcanism because the massifs formed at spreading ridges. This study is unique in showing Moho depth and structure over an extraordinarily large area beneath an oceanic plateau, giving insight to plateau structure and formation.

Within the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Health and Environmental Research (OHER), the atmospheric sciences and carbon dioxide research programs are part of the Environmental Sciences Division (ESD). One of the central missions of the division is to provide the DOE with scientifically defensible information on the local, regional, and global distributions of energy-related pollutants and their effects on climate. This information is vital to the definition and implementation of a sound national energy strategy. This volume reports on the progress and status of all OHER atmospheric science and climate research projects at the PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL). PNL has had a long history of technical leadership in the atmospheric sciences research programs within OHER. Within the ESD, the Atmospheric Chemistry Program (ACP) continues DOE's long-term commitment to study the continental and oceanic fates of energy-related air pollutants. Research through direct measurement, numerical modeling, and laboratory studies in the ACP emphasizes the long-range transport, chemical transformation, and removal of emitted pollutants, oxidant species, nitrogen-reservoir species, and aerosols. The Atmospheric Studies in Complex Terrain (ASCOT) program continues to apply basic research on density-driven circulations and on turbulent mixing and dispersion in the atmospheric boundary layer to the micro- to mesoscale meteorological processes that affect air-surface exchange and to emergency preparedness at DOE and other facilities. Research at PNL provides basic scientific underpinnings to DOE's program of global climate research. Research projects within the core carbon dioxide and ocean research programs are now integrated with those in the Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM), the Computer Hardware, Advanced Mathematics and Model Physics (CHAMMP), and Quantitative Links programs to form DOE's contribution to the US Global Change Research

The sea-surface bioproductivity changes over the last 25 kyr were inferred from published data on 30 sediment cores from the open NorthwestPacific (NWP), Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea and Sea of Japan accounting for the glacioeustatic sea-level changes. A novel method was developed to compare the variations of several independent productivity proxies relative to the present-day values. During the Last Glacial Maximum, the bioproductivity in the Sea of Okhotsk and the western Bering Sea (BS) was lower than at present, whereas the southern and southeastern Bering Sea and the open NWP are characterized by enhanced bioproductivity. During the early deglacial stage, an increase in bioproductivity was estimated only for the southeastern Bering Sea. High and fairly high bioproductivity was estimated for Heinrich 1 in the open NWP, above the Umnak Plateau and on the Shirshov and Bowers Ridges in the Bering Sea. The high productivity in the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk and NWP during the Bølling/Allerød was caused by the global warming and enhanced nutrient supply by meltwater from the continent. During the Early Holocene, high productivity was estimated for almost the entire NWP. The Late Holocene sea-surface bioproductivity was generally lower than that of the Early Holocene. Proposed factors that have controlled the sea-surface bioproductivity during the last 25 kyr include: the location of the sea ice margin, the river runoff, gradual flooding of the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk shelf areas, the water mass exchange between the marginal seas and the open NWP, the eolian supply and the deep vertical mixing of the water column.

Multiproxy evidence indicates that warmer-than-present summers became established in Eastern Beringia as early as 14,000-13,000 years ago, but the dispersal of spruces, pines, cedars and hemlocks across the PacificNorthwest (PNW) region of southern Alaska did not begin until at least 1500 years afterwards, and took many thousands of years to be completed. There are many potential reasons for this slow spread of PNW conifers towards their modern range limits. The absence of mycorrhizae in the soils of southern Alaska may have slowed conifer establishment. The availability of soil moisture was another limiting factor. With the exception of Pinus contorta, the other PNW conifers become established most readily from seeds that fall on moist, shaded substrates, thus they are not good pioneering species. Competition with alder and birch played an important role, especially along Prince William Sound and the Kenai Peninsula. Alder or alder and birch dominated these regions until the mid- to late Holocene. The other key element for most PNW conifer species is the precipitation regime. The hemlocks, cedars and Sitka spruce are not drought-hardy. So although the PNW temperature regime may have been warm enough in early postglacial times to support the growth of PNW conifers, it was probably too dry for them to successfully become established in new regions. The conflation of these environmental factors limits our present understanding of the problem, but the recent trend of multi-proxy analysis in Quaternary paleoecology will certainly sharpen our reconstructions. Such proxies as conifer needle stomata and insect fossil remains hold significant promise.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has produced a River Reach File data layer for the PacificNorthwest for use in water-resource management applications. The PacificNorthwest (PNW) River Reach Files, a geo-referenced river reach data layer at 1:100,000-scale, are encoded with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency"s (EPA) reach numbers. The encoding was a primary task of the River Reach project, because EPA"s reach identifiers are also an integral hydrologic component in a regional Northwest Environmental Data Base-an ongoing effort by Federal and State agencies to compile information on reach-specific resources on rivers in Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and western Montana. A unique conflation algorithm was developed by the USGS to transfer the EPA reach codes and other meaningful attributes from the 1:250,000-scale EPA TRACE graphic files to the PNW Reach Files. The PNW Reach Files also were designed so that reach-specific information upstream or downstream from a point in the stream network could be extracted from feature attribute tables or from a Geographic Information System. This report documents the methodology used to create this 1:100,000-scale hydrologic data layer.

This research was conducted to develop the technology necessary to produce, process, and utilize vegetable oil as a diesel fuel substitute for agricultural production in the PacificNorthwest. Additional studies were conducted to determine the economic threshold, to derive energy budgets for various crop production regions and to insure that expeller extracted meals would make acceptable animal feeds. This research was conducted by an integrated team of scientists from the University of Idaho which initiated efforts in this field in December of 1979. Experiments were conducted by agronomists, agricultural engineers, animal nutritionists, chemical engineers, and agricultural economists. This report summarizes data accumulated from April 1986 to May 1987 as part of USDA/ARS Research Agreement No. 58-7B30-2-402. Copies for this report can be obtained from the Director of the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Agriculture, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83843.

This report summarizes progress in environmental sciences research conducted by PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PBL) for the Office of Health and Environmental Research in FY 1989. Research is directed toward developing a fundamental understanding of processes controlling the long-term fate and biological effects of fugitive chemicals and other stressors resulting from energy development. The report is organized by major research areas. Within this division, individual reports summarize the progress of projects in these areas. Additional sections summarize exploratory research, educational institutional interactions, technology transfer, and publications. The research, focused principally on subsurface contaminant transport and detection and management of human-induced changes in biological systems, forms the basis for defining and quantifying processes that affect humans and the environment at the local, regional, and global levels.

Assessments were performed to evaluate compliance with the airborne radionuclide emission monitoring requirements in the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP – U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Part 61, Subpart H) and Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 246-247: Radiation Protection – Air Emissions. In these NESHAP assessments, potential unabated offsite doses were evaluated for emission locations at buildings that are part of the consolidated laboratory campus of the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory. This report describes the inventory-based methods and provides the results for the NESHAP assessment performed in 2007.

Assessments were performed to evaluate compliance with the airborne radionuclide emission monitoring requirements in the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants ([NESHAP]; U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Part 61, Subpart H) and Washington Administrative Code 246-247: Radiation Protection - Air Emissions. In these NESHAP assessments, potential unabated off-site doses were evaluated for emission locations at buildings that are part of the consolidated laboratory campus of the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory. This report describes the inventory-based methods and provides the results for the NESHAP assessment performed in 2010.

This report summarizes progress in environmental sciences research conducted by PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) for the Office of Health and Environmental Research in FY 1986. The program is focused on terrestrial, subsurface, and coastal marine systems, and this research forms the basis, in conjunction with remote sensing, for definition and quantification of processes leading to impacts at the global level. This report is organized into sections devoted to Detection and Management of Change in Terrestrial Systems, Biogeochemical Phenomena, Subsurface Microbiology and Transport, Marine Sciences, and Theoretical (Quantitative) Ecology. Separate abstracts have been prepared for individual projects.

The goals of atmospheric research at PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) are to assess, describe and predict the nature and fate of atmospheric contaminants and to study the impacts of contaminants on local, regional and global climates. The contaminants being investigated are those resulting from the development and use of conventional energy resources (coal, gas, oil, and nuclear power) as well as alternative energy resources. The description of atmospheric research at PNL is organized in terms of generic studies including Contaminant Characterizations and Transformation; Boundary Layer Meteorology; and Dispersion, Deposition and Resupension of Atmospheric Contaminants.

The goals of atmospheric research at PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) are to assess, describe, and predict the nature and fate of atmospheric contaminants and to study the impacts of contaminants on local, regional, and global climates. The contaminants being investigated are those resulting from the development and use of conventional resources (coal, gas, oil, and nuclear power) as well as alternative energy sources. The description of the research is organized into 3 sections: (1) Atmospheric Studies in Complex Terrain (ASCOT); (2) Boundary Layer Meteorology; and (3) Dispersion, Deposition, and Resuspension of Atmospheric Contaminants. Separate analytics have been done for each of the sections and are indexed and contained in the EDB. (MDF)

In 1991, the PacificNorthwest Laboratory conducted a series of aircraft measurements to determine pollutant and radiative properties of the smoke plume from oil fires in Kuwait. This work was sponsored by the US Department emanating of Energy, in cooperation with several other agencies as part of an extensive effort coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization, to obtain a comprehensive data set to assess the characteristics of the plume and its environmental impact. This report describes field measurement activities and introduces the various data collected, but provides only limited analyses of these data. Results of further data analyses will be presented in subsequent open-literature publications.

Geographic range: The ghost shrimp is found in intertidal areas along the west coast of North America from Mutiny Bay, Alaska, to the mouth of the Tijuana River, San Diego County, California; MacGinitie (1934) and Ricketts and Calvin (1968) reported finding specimens as far south as El Estuario de Punto Banda, Baja California Norte, Mexico. The blue mud shrimp is found from southeastern Alaska to San Quentin Bay (Bahia de San Quentin) in Baja California Norte. The general distribution of the two species in the PacificNorthwest is identical (Figure 3).

In 1983 the Bonneville Power Administration contracted with the PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) to conduct an analysis of the marketing environment for Bonneville's conservation activities. Since this baseline residential study, PNL has conducted two follow up market research projects: Phase 2 in 1985, and Phase 3, in 1988. In this report the respondents' perceptions, preferences, and fuel switching possibilities of fuels for home heating and major appliances are examined. To aid in effective target marketing, the report identifies market segments according to consumers' demographics, life-cycle, attitudes, and opinions.

We propose a multi-agency study to understand the impacts of land-use change on the carbon and energy balance of the PacificNorthwest. By integrating data for the carbon and energy fluxes across different scales within each land-use type, we will develop more accurate input parameters for the regional climate models. The product of this study will address two priorities recommended by the National Academy of Sciences; 1) reduce uncertainties in climate change projections and 2) provide a more definitive evaluation of long-term changes.

This project represents the third phase of a multi-year effort to develop and bring to market a High Performance Manufactured Home (HPMH). In this project, the Northwest Energy Efficient Manufactured Housing Program worked with Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction and Bonneville Power Administration to help four factory homebuilders build prototype zero energy ready manufactured homes, resulting in what is expected to be a 30% savings relative to the Building America Benchmark. (The actual % savings varies depending on choice of heating equipment and climate zone). Previous phases of this project created a HPMH specification and prototyped individual measures from the package to obtain engineering approvals and develop preliminary factory construction processes. This case study describes the project team's work during 2014 to build prototype homes to the HPMH specifications and to monitor the homes for energy performance and durability. Monitoring is expected to continue into 2016.

The terrestrial carbon cycle regulates carbon pools and fluxes throughout the Earth system. Currently, the PacificNorthwest is a carbon sink; it is gaining more carbon than it is releasing into the atmosphere. Investigating changes to this carbon sink is critical for understanding ecosystem responses to future environmental change. The Community Land Model version 4 (CLM4CN) was run with eight simulations for varying atmospheric changes. Half of the simulations ran using Qian climate data for 1948-2004, and half ran with climate data for 2075-2100 from the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 scenario (RCP8.5). One run from each group was forced with an increased carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration of 937.87 parts per million (ppm), another was forced with an increased tropospheric ozone (O3) concentration, the third included a combination of increased O3 and CO2 concentrations, and the fourth was a control. Carbon pools decreased with the RCP8.5 scenario in all simulations. An increased CO2 concentration grew carbon pools in both climates. An increased O3 concentration had the opposite effect. A combination of O3 and CO2 showed that carbon pools increased, and the increase was smaller than with CO2 alone. Net primary production (NPP) and net ecosystem production (NEP) mirrored the carbon pool changes. Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) showed that an increased CO2 concentration increased the carbon sink in both climates. The region became a source of carbon with increased O3. The carbon sink increased with a combination of O3 and CO2, with the increase being smaller than the CO2 alone. The figure shows the changes in the ecosystem carbon pool resulting from increasing gas concentrations in various simulations. The x axis represents the future climate scenario control. The black box represents the difference between the carbon pool with increased carbon dioxide (CO2) and the control simulation. The grey box is the difference in the carbon pool between the simulation

Monitoring species in National Parks facilitates inference regarding effects of climate change on population dynamics because parks are relatively unaffected by other forms of anthropogenic disturbance. Even at early points in a monitoring program, identifying climate covariates of population density can suggest vulnerabilities to future change. Monitoring landbird populations in parks during the breeding season brings the added benefit of allowing a comparative approach to inference across a large suite of species with diverse requirements. For example, comparing resident and migratory species that vary in exposure to non-park habitats can reveal the relative importance of park effects, such as those related to local climate. We monitored landbirds using breeding-season point-count data collected during 2005–2014 in three wilderness areas of the PacificNorthwest (Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks). For 39 species, we estimated recent trends in population density while accounting for individual detection probability using Bayesian hierarchical N-mixture models. Our analyses integrated several recent developments in N-mixture modeling, incorporating interval and distance sampling to estimate distinct components of detection probability while also accommodating count intervals of varying duration, annual variation in the length and number of point-count transects, spatial autocorrelation, random effects, and covariates of detection and density. As covariates of density, we considered metrics of precipitation and temperature hypothesized to affect breeding success. We also considered effects of park and elevational stratum on trend. Regardless of model structure, we estimated stable or increasing densities during 2005–2014 for most populations. Mean trends across species were positive for migrants in every park and for residents in one park. A recent snowfall deficit in this region might have contributed to the positive trend, because

The technology of culinary products (puddings) of finely ground Pacific herring milt has been experimentally proved. The standard physics and chemical, organoleptic, microbiological methods for food analysis have been used. The main raw material is frozen milt of Pacific herring. Fresh eggs, drinking cream, berries (cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.) frozen and fresh, sugar, and soda have been used as additional materials. The ratio of main components in production of puddings from...

PacificNorthwest (PNW) prairies are an imperiled ecosystem that contain a large number of plant species with high fidelity to this habitat. The few remaining high-quality PNW prairies harbor a number of sensitive, rare, and endangered plant species that may be further at-risk with climate change. Thus, PNW prairies are an excellent model system to examine how climate change will affect the distribution of native plant species in grassland sites. Our experimental objectives were to determine: (i) how climate change will affect the range distribution of native plant species; (ii) what life history stages are most sensitive to climate change in a group of key indicator native species; (iii) the robustness of current restoration techniques and suites of species to changing climate, and in particular, the relative competitiveness of native species versus exotic invasive species; and (iv) the effects of climate change on carbon and nutrient cycling and soil-microbial-plant feedbacks. We addressed these objectives by experimentally increasing temperature 2.5 to 3.0 ºC above ambient with overhead infrared lamps and increasing wet-season precipitation by 20% above ambient in three upland prairie sites in central-western Washington, central-western Oregon, and southwestern Oregon from fall 2010 through 2012. Additional precipitation was applied within 2 weeks of when it fell so precipitation intensity was increased, particularly during the winter rainy season but with minimal additions during the summer dry season. These three sites also represent a 520-km natural climate gradient of increasing degree of severity of Mediterranean climate from north to south. After removing the extant vegetation, we planted a diverse suite of 12 native species that have their northern range limit someplace within the PNW in each experimental plot. An additional 20 more wide-spread native species were also planted into each plot. We found that recruitment of plant species within their ranges

We examine the evolution of mesic forest ecosystems in the PacificNorthwest of North America using a statistical phylogeography approach in four animal and two plant lineages. Three a priori hypotheses, which explain the disjunction in the mesic forest ecosystem with either recent dispersal or ancient vicariance, are tested with phylogenetic and coalescent methods. We find strong support in three amphibian lineages (Ascaphus spp., and Dicampton spp., and Plethodon vandykei and P. idahoensis) for deep divergence between coastal and inland populations, as predicted by the ancient vicariance hypothesis. Unlike the amphibians, the disjunction in other PacificNorthwest lineages is likely due to recent dispersal along a northern route. Topological and population divergence tests support the northern dispersal hypothesis in the water vole (Microtus richardsoni) and northern dispersal has some support in both the dusky willow (Salix melanopsis) and whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis). These analyses demonstrate that genetic data sampled from across an ecosystem can provide insight into the evolution of ecological communities and suggest that the advantages of a statistical phylogeographic approach are most pronounced in comparisons across multiple taxa in a particular ecosystem. Genetic patterns in organisms as diverse as willows and salamanders can be used to test general regional hypotheses, providing a consistent metric for comparison among members of an ecosystem with disparate life-history traits.

Full Text Available In order to identify bacteria that assimilate dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC in the northeast Pacific Ocean, stable isotope probing (SIP experiments were conducted on water collected from 3 different sites off the Oregon and Washington coasts in May 2010, and one site off the Oregon Coast in September 2008 and March 2009. Samples were incubated in the dark with 2 mM (13C-NaHCO(3, doubling the average concentration of DIC typically found in the ocean. Our results revealed a surprising diversity of marine bacteria actively assimilating DIC in the dark within the PacificNorthwest coastal waters, indicating that DIC fixation is relevant for the metabolism of different marine bacterial lineages, including putatively heterotrophic taxa. Furthermore, dark DIC-assimilating assemblages were widespread among diverse bacterial classes. Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes dominated the active DIC-assimilating communities across the samples. Actinobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Verrucomicrobia were also implicated in DIC assimilation. Alteromonadales and Oceanospirillales contributed significantly to the DIC-assimilating Gammaproteobacteria within May 2010 clone libraries. 16S rRNA gene sequences related to the sulfur-oxidizing symbionts Arctic96BD-19 were observed in all active DIC assimilating clone libraries. Among the Alphaproteobacteria, clones related to the ubiquitous SAR11 clade were found actively assimilating DIC in all samples. Although not a dominant contributor to our active clone libraries, Betaproteobacteria, when identified, were predominantly comprised of Burkholderia. DIC-assimilating bacteria among Deltaproteobacteria included members of the SAR324 cluster. Our research suggests that DIC assimilation is ubiquitous among many bacterial groups in the coastal waters of the PacificNorthwest marine environment and may represent a significant metabolic process.

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the amount of wet and dry deposition of oxidized nitrogen in the Pacific...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the extent of soils with low phosphorus retention potential in the Pacific...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the extent of soils with high phosphorus retention potential in the Pacific...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the amount of fertilizer phosphorus that was applied to farm land in the Pacific...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the extent of soils with moderate phosphorus retention potential in the Pacific...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the amount of fertilizer nitrogen that was applied to farm land in the Pacific...

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This spatial data set was created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to represent the amount of fertilizer nitrogen that was applied to nonfarm land in the Pacific...

A PCR assay was designed and optimized to differentiate four Pratylenchus species commonly encountered in soil and root samples from the PacificNorthwest of North America. Species-specific primers were designed to accessions from Pratylenchus species deposited in GenBank which encoded a ß-1,4-endog...

Using interviews and participant observation at PacificNorthwest sustainable farming operations, this article analyzes the complex ways that class privileges and labor practices impact the social sustainability of sustainable agriculture. While the farmers in this study were highly aware of and reflexive about the class politics of sustainable…

Recent advances in various research fields are described. Scientists at the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory have found a new way to detect destructive enzyme activity, scientists in France have found that an ancient hair dye used by ancient people in Greece and Rome relied on nanotechnology and in the U.S. scientists are developing new…

Intended to acquaint fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-grade children with the concept of culture, this anthropology unit focuses on two groups of Indians who lived in prehistoric times and present-day non-Indian families living in the Midwest. Objectives are to help students understand the behavior of the NorthwestPacific Coast Indians, the Hopi…

The goal of this study was to update life-cycle assessment (LCA) data associated with I-joist production in the PacificNorthwest (PNW) region of the United States from cradle-to-gate mill output. The authors collected primary mill data from I-joist production facilities per Consortium on Research for Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM) research guidelines....

The goal of the present study was to develop life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) data associated with laminated veneer lumber (LVL) production in the PacificNorthwest (PNW) region of the United States from cradle-to-gate mill output. The authors collected primary (survey) mill data from LVL production facilities per Consortium on Research for Renewable Industrial...

Recent advances in various research fields are described. Scientists at the PacificNorthwest National Laboratory have found a new way to detect destructive enzyme activity, scientists in France have found that an ancient hair dye used by ancient people in Greece and Rome relied on nanotechnology and in the U.S. scientists are developing new…

This study describes a hybrid technique of digitally classifying aerial photography used for mapping the intertidal habitat of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) in PacificNorthwest USA estuaries. The large tidal range (2-3 m) in this region exposes most of this seagrass community at ...

This study describes a hybrid technique of digitally classifying aerial photography used for mapping the intertidal habitat of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) in PacificNorthwest USA estuaries. The large tidal range (2-3 m) in this region exposes most of this seagrass community at ...

The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias fannini Chapman, 1901) in the Pacificnorthwest appears to have modified nesting behaviour in response to the strong recent recovery of the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus (L., 1766)) population. Previously undescribed, herons now often nest in close

Information management technology has proliferated in the past decade in response to the information explosion. As documentation accumulates, the need to access information residing in manuals, handbooks and regulations conveniently, accurately, and quickly has increased. However, studies show that only fractions of the available information is read (Martin, 1978). Consequently, one of the biggest challenges in linking information and electronic management of information is to use the power of communication technology to meet the information needs of the audience. PacificNorthwest Laboratories` (PNL) investigation of translating its print manual system to an on-line system fits this challenge precisely. PNL`s manuals contain a tremendous amount of information for which manual holders are responsible. To perform their tasks in compliance with policy and procedure guidelines, users need to access information accurately, conveniently, and quickly. In order to select and use information management tools wisely, answers must be sought to a few basic questions. Communication experts cite four key questions: What do users want? What do users need? What characteristics of an on-line information system affect its usefulness? Who are the users whose wants and needs are to be met? Once these questions are answered, attention can be focused on finding the best match between user requirements and technology characteristics and weighing the costs and benefits of proposed options.

Information management technology has proliferated in the past decade in response to the information explosion. As documentation accumulates, the need to access information residing in manuals, handbooks and regulations conveniently, accurately, and quickly has increased. However, studies show that only fractions of the available information is read (Martin, 1978). Consequently, one of the biggest challenges in linking information and electronic management of information is to use the power of communication technology to meet the information needs of the audience. PacificNorthwest Laboratories' (PNL) investigation of translating its print manual system to an on-line system fits this challenge precisely. PNL's manuals contain a tremendous amount of information for which manual holders are responsible. To perform their tasks in compliance with policy and procedure guidelines, users need to access information accurately, conveniently, and quickly. In order to select and use information management tools wisely, answers must be sought to a few basic questions. Communication experts cite four key questions: What do users want What do users need What characteristics of an on-line information system affect its usefulness Who are the users whose wants and needs are to be met Once these questions are answered, attention can be focused on finding the best match between user requirements and technology characteristics and weighing the costs and benefits of proposed options.

The objective of this Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was to develop and commercialize a technology conceived by scientists at PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and manufactured by Beckman Instruments, Inc. (Beckman), and to apply this technology to the characterization of and soils. The technology is the Unsaturated Flow Apparatus (UFA). The UFA provides a highly efficient method of direct, rapid measurement of hydraulic conductivity and other flow properties according to Darcy-Buckingham principles because the operator controls both the fluid driving force, using an ultracentrifuge, and the flow into the sample while it is spinning, with a rotating seal assembly. The concept of using centrifugation to significantly decrease the time needed, from years or months to days, for study of subsurface transport, particularly under unsaturated conditions, was conceived by James Conca, Ph.D., and Judith Wright, Ph.D., in 1986. The prototype UFA was developed in 1988 because there was a need to rapidly and accurately determine transport parameters in soils, sediments, and rocks for the Grout Waste Disposal Program. Transport parameters are critical to modeling outcomes for site-specific solutions to environmental remediation and waste disposal problems.

A new species, Dasineura camassiae Gagné (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), is described, illustrated and compared to some of its congeners from related hosts and western North America. The new species causes flower galls on Camassia (Agavoideae; Asparagaceae) in the PacificNorthwest. Its current known distribution is Oregon and Washington, USA. Larvae develop in spring in flowers of Camassia spp., causing the young ovaries to enlarge prematurely and eventually abort, without forming seeds or mature fruit. Full-grown larvae crawl out of the gall in rapid succession and drop to the soil where they pupate; they remain there until spring of the following year when the adults emerge and lay eggs. The galls they induce in camas lily buds represent the first known association of the cosmopolitan genus Dasineura with the group of plants that includes Agave and its relatives.

The goals of atmospheric research at PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) are to describe and predict the nature and fate of atmospheric contaminants and to develop an understanding of the atmospheric processes contributing to their distribution on local, regional, and continental scales. In 1986, atmospheric research examined the transport and diffusion of atmospheric contaminants in areas of complex terrain and participated in a large, multilaboratory program to assess the precipitation scavenging processes important to the transformation and wet deposition of chemicals composing ''acid rain.'' In addition, during 1986, a special opportunity for measuring the transport and removal of radioactivity occurred after the Chernobyl reactor accident in April 1986. Separate abstracts were prepared for individual projects.

This report summarizes FY 1993 progress in biological and general life sciences research programs conducted for the Department of Energy`s Office of Health and Environmental REsearch (OHER) at PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL). This research provides knowledge of fundamental principles necessary to identify, understand, and anticipate the long-term health consequences of exposure to energy-related radiation and chemicals. The Biological Research section contains reports of studies using laboratory animals, in vitro cell systems, and molecular biological systems. This research includes studies of the impact of radiation, radionuclides, and chemicals on biological responses at all levels of biological organization. The General Life Sciences Research section reports research conducted for the OHER human genome program.

The goals of atmospheric research at PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) are to describe and predict the nature and fate of atmospheric contaminants and to develop an understanding of the atmospheric processes contributing to their distribution on local, regional, and continental scales. In 1985, this research has examined the transport and diffusion of atmospheric contaminants in areas of complex terrain, summarized the field studies and analyses of dry deposition and resuspension conducted in past years, and begun participation in a large, multilaboratory program to assess the precipitation scavenging processes important to the transformation and wet deposition of chemicals composing ''acid rain.'' The description of atmospheric research at PNL is organized in terms of the following study areas: Atmospheric Studies in Complex Terrain; Dispersion, Deposition, and Resuspension of Atmospheric Contaminants; and Processing of Emissions by Clouds and Precipitation (PRECP).

The goals of atmospheric research at PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) are to describe and predict the nature and fate of atmospheric contaminants and to develop an understanding of the atmospheric processes contributing to their distribution on local, regional, and continental scales. In 1986, atmospheric research examined the transport and diffusion of atmospheric contaminants in areas of complex terrain and participated in a large, multilaboratory program to assess the precipitation scavenging processes important to the transformation and wet deposition of chemicals composing ''acid rain.'' In addition, during 1986, a special opportunity for measuring the transport and removal of radioactivity occurred after the Chernobyl reactor accident in April 1986. Separate abstracts were prepared for individual projects.

The difference-ratio relations are introduced to separate tidal constituents that are aliased due to the sampling interval and sampling span of the TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter. It is found that some tidal constituents such as K1 and SSA, though aliased at along track points, are not aliased at crossover points because the data at crossover points are double those at along track points. So the harmonic analysis method can be employed directly for the analysis of time series at crossover points. Then the difference-ratio relations from crossover points are introduced to analyze the time series at along track points. The TOPEX/POSEIDON data in the NorthwestPacific are analyzed with this method. The results from this method agree well with tidal constants from tidal gauges.

positively correlated while colour showed little correlation with either trait. Provenances from the Oregon Coast and Willapa Hills, Washington provided the highest potential gain for Christmas tree market value. Provenances from Denmark exhibited superior colour and slow growth. For breeding purposes......Noble fir is the leading Christmas tree produced in the US PacificNorthwest (PNW). This study is based on evaluations of 24,721 trees collected from five native collection regions in Oregon and Washington plus imported seed from Denmark. The major collection areas were further subdivided...... into provenances utilizing 16 in the PNW and 6 from Denmark. A total of 22 test sites were evaluated from progeny trials planted between 1996 and 2007. Traits important for commercial Christmas tree production were evaluated and include commercial height, tree grade, value and colour. Tree height and quality were...

Path analyses of historical streamflow data from the PacificNorthwest indicate that the precipitation amount has been the dominant control on the magnitude of low streamflow extremes compared to the air temperature-affected timing of snowmelt runoff. The relative sensitivities of low streamflow to precipitation and temperature changes have important implications for adaptation planning because global circulation models produce relatively robust estimates of air temperature changes but have large uncertainties in projected precipitation amounts in the PacificNorthwest U.S. Quantile regression analyses indicate that low streamflow extremes from the majority of catchments in this study have declined from 1948 to 2013, which may significantly affect terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and water resource management. Trends in the 25th percentile of mean annual streamflow have declined and the center of timing has occurred earlier. We quantify the relative influences of total precipitation and air temperature on the annual low streamflow extremes from 42 stream gauges using mean annual streamflow as a proxy for precipitation amount effects and streamflow center of timing as a proxy for temperature effects on low flow metrics, including 7q10 summer (the minimum 7 day flow during summer with a 10 year return period), mean August, mean September, mean summer, 7q10 winter, and mean winter flow metrics. These methods have the benefit of using only readily available streamflow data, which makes our results robust against systematic errors in high elevation distributed precipitation data. Winter low flow metrics are weakly tied to both mean annual streamflow and center of timing.

We perform a joint inversion of phase velocities from both earthquake and ambient noise induced Rayleigh waves to determine shear wave velocity structure in the crust and upper mantle beneath the PacificNorthwest. We focus particularly on the areas affected by mid-Miocene to present volcanic activity. The joint inversion, combined with the high density seismic network of the High Lava Plains seismic experiment and data from the EarthScope Transportable Array, provides outstanding resolution for this area. In Oregon, we find that the pattern of low velocities in the crust and uppermost mantle varies between the High Lava Plains physiographic province and the adjacent northwestern Basin and Range. These patterns may be due to the presence of the Brothers Fault Zone which separates the clockwise rotating northwest Basin and Range from the relatively undeformed areas further north. Further to the east, the Owyhee Plateau, Snake River Plain (SRP) and northeastern Basin and Range are characterized by high crustal velocities, though the depth extent of these fast wave speeds varies by province. Of particular interest is the mid-crustal high velocity sill, previously only identified within the SRP. We show this anomaly extends significantly further south into Utah and Nevada. We suggest that one possible explanation is lateral crustal extrusion due to the emplacement of the high density mafic mid-crustal sill structures within the SRP.

The Regional Assessments Division in the US Department of Energy (DOE) has undertaken a program to assess the probable consequences of various national energy policies in regions of the United States and to evaluate the constraints on national energy policy imposed by conditions in these regions. The program is referred to as the Regional Issues Identification and Assessment (RIIA) Program. Currently the RIIA Program is evaluating the Trendlong Mid-Mid scenario, a pattern of energy development for 1985 and 1990 derived from the Project Independence Evaluation System (PIES) model. This scenario assumes a medium annual growth rate in both the national demand for and national supply of energy. It has been disaggregated to specify the generating capacity to be supplied by each energy source in each state. PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) has the responsibility for evaluating the scenario for the Federal Region 10, consisting of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. PNL is identifying impacts and constraints associated with realizing the scenario in a variety of categories, including air and water quality impacts, health and safety effects, and socioeconomic impacts. This report summarizes the analysis of one such category: institutional constraints - defined to include legal, organizational, and political barriers to the achievement of the scenario in the Northwest.

Pacific Lampreys Entosphenus tridentatus have experienced severe population declines in recent years and efforts to develop captive rearing programs are under consideration. However, there is limited knowledge of their life history, ecology, and potential to harbor or transmit pathogens that may cause infectious disease. As a measure of the possible risks associated with introducing wild lampreys into existing fish culture facilities, larval lampreys (ammocoetes) were tested for susceptibility to infection and mortality caused by experimental exposures to the fish rhabdovirus pathogens: infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) and viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV). Two IHNV isolates, representing the U and M genogroups, and one VHSV isolate from the IVa genotype were each delivered to groups of ammocoetes by immersion at moderate and high viral doses, and by intraperitoneal injection. Ammocoetes were then held in triplicate tanks with no substrate or sediment. During 41 d of observation postchallenge there was low or no mortality in all groups, and no virus was detected in the small number of fish that died. Ammocoetes sampled for incidence of infection at 6 and 12 d after immersion challenges also had no detectable virus, and no virus was detected in surviving fish from any group. A small number of ammocoetes sampled 6 d after the injection challenge had detectable virus, but at levels below the original quantity of virus injected. Overall there was no evidence of infection, replication, or persistence of any of the viruses in any of the treatment groups. Our results suggest that Pacific Lampreys are highly unlikely to serve as hosts that maintain or transmit these viruses.

Pacific Lampreys Entosphenus tridentatus have experienced severe population declines in recent years and efforts to develop captive rearing programs are under consideration. However, there is limited knowledge of their life history, ecology, and potential to harbor or transmit pathogens that may cause infectious disease. As a measure of the possible risks associated with introducing wild lampreys into existing fish culture facilities, larval lampreys (ammocoetes) were tested for susceptibility to infection and mortality caused by experimental exposures to the fish rhabdovirus pathogens: infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) and viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV). Two IHNV isolates, representing the U and M genogroups, and one VHSV isolate from the IVa genotype were each delivered to groups of ammocoetes by immersion at moderate and high viral doses, and by intraperitoneal injection. Ammocoetes were then held in triplicate tanks with no substrate or sediment. During 41 d of observation postchallenge there was low or no mortality in all groups, and no virus was detected in the small number of fish that died. Ammocoetes sampled for incidence of infection at 6 and 12 d after immersion challenges also had no detectable virus, and no virus was detected in surviving fish from any group. A small number of ammocoetes sampled 6 d after the injection challenge had detectable virus, but at levels below the original quantity of virus injected. Overall there was no evidence of infection, replication, or persistence of any of the viruses in any of the treatment groups. Our results suggest that Pacific Lampreys are highly unlikely to serve as hosts that maintain or transmit these viruses.

Full Text Available The largest uncertainty in the radiative forcing of climate change over the industrial era is that due to aerosols, a substantial fraction of which is the uncertainty associated with scattering and absorption of shortwave (solar radiation by anthropogenic aerosols in cloud-free conditions (IPCC, 2001. Quantifying and reducing the uncertainty in aerosol influences on climate is critical to understanding climate change over the industrial period and to improving predictions of future climate change for assumed emission scenarios. Measurements of aerosol properties during major field campaigns in several regions of the globe during the past decade are contributing to an enhanced understanding of atmospheric aerosols and their effects on light scattering and climate. The present study, which focuses on three regions downwind of major urban/population centers (North Indian Ocean (NIO during INDOEX, the NorthwestPacific Ocean (NWP during ACE-Asia, and the Northwest Atlantic Ocean (NWA during ICARTT, incorporates understanding gained from field observations of aerosol distributions and properties into calculations of perturbations in radiative fluxes due to these aerosols. This study evaluates the current state of observations and of two chemical transport models (STEM and MOZART. Measurements of burdens, extinction optical depth (AOD, and direct radiative effect of aerosols (DRE – change in radiative flux due to total aerosols are used as measurement-model check points to assess uncertainties. In-situ measured and remotely sensed aerosol properties for each region (mixing state, mass scattering efficiency, single scattering albedo, and angular scattering properties and their dependences on relative humidity are used as input parameters to two radiative transfer models (GFDL and University of Michigan to constrain estimates of aerosol radiative effects, with uncertainties in each step propagated through the analysis. Constraining the radiative

The largest uncertainty in the radiative forcing of climate change over the industrial era is that due to aerosols, a substantial fraction of which is the uncertainty associated with scattering and absorption of shortwave (solar) radiation by anthropogenic aerosols in cloud-free conditions (IPCC, 2001). Quantifying and reducing the uncertainty in aerosol influences on climate is critical to understanding climate change over the industrial period and to improving predictions of future climate change for assumed emission scenarios. Measurements of aerosol properties during major field campaigns in several regions of the globe during the past decade are contributing to an enhanced understanding of atmospheric aerosols and their effects on light scattering and climate. The present study, which focuses on three regions downwind of major urban/population centers (North Indian Ocean (NIO) during INDOEX, the NorthwestPacific Ocean (NWP) during ACE-Asia, and the Northwest Atlantic Ocean (NWA) during ICARTT), incorporates understanding gained from field observations of aerosol distributions and properties into calculations of perturbations in radiative fluxes due to these aerosols. This study evaluates the current state of observations and of two chemical transport models (STEM and MOZART). Measurements of burdens, extinction optical depth (AOD), and direct radiative effect of aerosols (DRE - change in radiative flux due to total aerosols) are used as measurement-model check points to assess uncertainties. In-situ measured and remotely sensed aerosol properties for each region (mixing state, mass scattering efficiency, single scattering albedo, and angular scattering properties and their dependences on relative humidity) are used as input parameters to two radiative transfer models (GFDL and University of Michigan) to constrain estimates of aerosol radiative effects, with uncertainties in each step propagated through the analysis. Constraining the radiative transfer

Full Text Available The largest uncertainty in the radiative forcing of climate change over the industrial era is that due to aerosols, a substantial fraction of which is the uncertainty associated with scattering and absorption of shortwave (solar radiation by anthropogenic aerosols in cloud-free conditions (IPCC, 2001. Quantifying and reducing the uncertainty in aerosol influences on climate is critical to understanding climate change over the industrial period and to improving predictions of future climate change for assumed emission scenarios. Measurements of aerosol properties during major field campaigns in several regions of the globe during the past decade are contributing to an enhanced understanding of atmospheric aerosols and their effects on light scattering and climate. The present study, which focuses on three regions downwind of major urban/population centers (North Indian Ocean (NIO during INDOEX, the NorthwestPacific Ocean (NWP during ACE-Asia, and the Northwest Atlantic Ocean (NWA during ICARTT, incorporates understanding gained from field observations of aerosol distributions and properties into calculations of perturbations in radiative fluxes due to these aerosols. This study evaluates the current state of observations and of two chemical transport models (STEM and MOZART. Measurements of burdens, extinction optical depth (AOD, and direct radiative effect of aerosols (DRE – change in radiative flux due to total aerosols are used as measurement-model check points to assess uncertainties. In-situ measured and remotely sensed aerosol properties for each region (mixing state, mass scattering efficiency, single scattering albedo, and angular scattering properties and their dependences on relative humidity are used as input parameters to two radiative transfer models (GFDL and University of Michigan to constrain estimates of aerosol radiative effects, with uncertainties in each step propagated through the analysis. Constraining the radiative

Environmental stressors such as salinity may affect plant germination and early growth, eventually impacting the distribution and abundance of more mature individuals. In a lab study we evaluated germination sensitivity to salinity in 13 tidal wetland species found in the Pacific...

This report summarizes research on captive broodstock technologies conducted during 1995 under Bonneville Power Administration Project 93-56. Investigations were conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in cooperation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Washington, and Northwest Biological Science Center (US Geological Survey). Studies encompassed several categories of research, including fish husbandry, reproductive physiology, immunology, pathology, nutrition, and genetics. Captive broodstock programs are being developed and implemented to aid recovery of endangered Pacific salmon stocks. Like salmon hatchery programs, however, captive broodstock programs are not without problems and risks to natural salmon populations. The research projects described in this report were developed in part based on a literature review, Assessment of the Status of Captive Broodstock Technology for Pacific Salmon. The work was divided into three major research areas: (1) research on sockeye salmon; (2) research on spring chinook salmon; and (3) research on quantitative genetic problems associated with captive broodstock programs. Investigations of nutrition, reproductive physiology, fish husbandry, and fish health were integrated into the research on sockeye and spring chinook salmon. A description of each investigation and its major findings and conclusions is presented.

Beach erosion is a chronic problem along most open ocean shores of the United States. As coastal populations continue to increase and infrastructure is threatened by erosion, there is increased demand for accurate information regarding past and present trends and rates of shoreline movement. There is also a need for a comprehensive analysis of shoreline movement that is consistent from one coastal region to another. To meet these national needs, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting an analysis of historical shoreline changes along the open-ocean sandy shores of the conterminous United States and parts of Hawaii, Alaska, and the Great Lakes. One purpose of this work is to develop standard, repeatable methods for mapping and analyzing shoreline movement so that periodic, systematic, and internally consistent updates regarding coastal erosion and land loss can be made nationally. In the case of the analysis of shoreline change in the PacificNorthwest (PNW), the shoreline is the interpreted boundary between the ocean water surface and the sandy beach. This report on the PNW coasts of Oregon and Washington is the seventh in a series of regionally focused reports on historical shoreline change. Previous investigations include analyses and descriptive reports of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (Morton and others, 2004), the southeastern Atlantic (Morton and Miller, 2005), the sandy shorelines (Hapke and others, 2006) and coastal cliffs (Hapke and Reid, 2007) of California, the New England and mid-Atlantic coasts (Hapke and others, 2011), and parts of the Hawaii coast (Fletcher and others, 2012). Like the earlier reports in this series, this report summarizes the methods of analysis, interprets the results of the analysis, provides explanations regarding long- and short-term trends and rates of shoreline change, and describes how different coastal communities are responding to coastal erosion. This report differs from the early USGS reports in the series in that those

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Current meter data were collected using moored current meter casts and other instruments in the Northwest and Southwest Pacific Ocean from October 1, 1992 to March...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Temperature profile, nutrients, species identification, and other data were collected using net and bottle casts from the RYOFU MARU in the NorthwestPacific Ocean....

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Temperature profile, nutrients, and other data were collected using bottle, CTD, and XBT casts from the CHOFU MARU in the NorthwestPacific Ocean. Data were...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Temperature profile and water depth data were collected using BT and XBT casts from the USS NICHOLSON in the Northwest / Southwest Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and...

This report describes the implementation and results of a field demonstration wherein residential electric water heaters and thermostats, commercial building space conditioning, municipal water pump loads, and several distributed generators were coordinated to manage constrained feeder electrical distribution through the two-way communication of load status and electric price signals. The field demonstration took place in Washington and Oregon and was paid for by the U.S. Department of Energy and several northwest utilities. Price is found to be an effective control signal for managing transmission or distribution congestion. Real-time signals at 5-minute intervals are shown to shift controlled load in time. The behaviors of customers and their responses under fixed, time-of-use, and real-time price contracts are compared. Peak loads are effectively reduced on the experimental feeder. A novel application of portfolio theory is applied to the selection of an optimal mix of customer contract types.

The 1983 annual report from PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) to the Department of Energy (DOE) describes research in environment, health, and safety conducted during fiscal year 1983. The report again consists of five parts, each in a separate volume. Part 5 of the 1983 Annual Report to the Department of Energy's Assistant Secretary for Environmental Protection, Safety and Emergency Preparedness presents PacificNorthwest Laboratory's progress on work performed for the Office of Nuclear Safety and the Office of Operational Safety. For each project, as identified by the Field Task Proposal/Agreement, articles describe progress made during FY 1983. Authors of these articles represent a broad spectrum of capabilities derived from various segments of the Laboratory, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the work.

The impact of environmental governance on the delivery of local climate change plans is examined by comparing two transatlantic sub-national jurisdictions which have adopted stringent targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: Scotland and the PacificNorthwest region of the United States of America. The former relies on dirigiste top-down environmental governance, through which central government sets targets and imposes statutory duties that apply equally to all local councils. In the l...

Full Text Available The technology of culinary products (puddings of finely ground Pacific herring milt has been experimentally proved. The standard physics and chemical, organoleptic, microbiological methods for food analysis have been used. The main raw material is frozen milt of Pacific herring. Fresh eggs, drinking cream, berries (cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc. frozen and fresh, sugar, and soda have been used as additional materials. The ratio of main components in production of puddings from Pacific herring milt is: milt 35–40 %, cream 20–25 %, eggs 15–22 %. The recipes of sweet puddings of milt with the addition of berries have been developed. The effect of duration of whipping protein mass on puddings' organoleptic parameters has been found experimentally. The recommended duration of whipping is from 3 to 5 minutes, this increases the amount of pudding mass lifting after the whipping of not less than 40 % of the original and provides the necessary structure in the finished product after heat treatment. The rational heat treatment of puddings' baking has been substantiated – at the temperature of 150 °C, with the duration of heat treatment for 20 minutes, which provides high organoleptic characteristics and safety of the finished product. The recommended shelf life of the finished product of not more than 72 hours at the temperature of 2–6 °C has been determined. On the basis of the research the technology of new kinds of culinary fish products – puddings of Pacific herring milt allowing obtain culinary products with high organoleptic characteristics – has been developed. The unique chemical composition combined (milk, eggs, cream and berries provides a basis for classification of new products as functional food. Additional involvement in food production little used milt of herring species of fish enables to expand the range of fish culinary products and increase the rate of food use of water origin raw material.

Plant trait measurements are needed for evaluating ecological responses to environmental conditions and for ecosystem process model development, parameterization, and testing. We present a standardized dataset integrating measurements from projects conducted by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research and Regional Analysis- PacificNorthwest (TERRA-PNW) research group between 1999 and 2014 across Oregon and Northern California, where measurements were collected for scaling and modeling regional terrestrial carbon processes with models such as Biome-BGC and the Community Land Model. The dataset contains measurements of specific leaf area, leaf longevity, leaf carbon and nitrogen for 35 tree and shrub species derived from more than 1,200 branch samples collected from over 200 forest plots, including several AmeriFlux sites. The dataset also contains plot-level measurements of forest composition, structure (e.g., tree biomass), and productivity, as well as measurements of soil structure (e.g., bulk density) and chemistry (e.g., carbon). Publically-archiving regional datasets of standardized, co-located, and geo-referenced plant trait measurements will advance the ability of earth system models to capture species-level climate sensitivity at regional to global scales.

Knowledge of population genetic structure plays an important role in fisheries management.In this research,Inter-Simple-Sequence-Repeat (ISSR) markers were employed to evaluate the genetic structure of Japanese sardinella (Sardinella zunasi) populations in the NorthwestPacific.Eighty seven individuals from 5 locations were screened using 4 highly polymorphic primers.A total of 173 polymorphic loci were detected out of 191 loci amplified.Small but significant genetic differentiation was detected between the Chinese and Japanese populations by both AMOVA and pairwise Fsr analyses,which was further supported by cluster analysis.We consider that climate change during glaciations should be responsible for the genetic differentiation.Isolation by geographic distance among populations was observed,indicating that the distance might also lead to the genetic differentiation.However,no genetic structure was found within the populations off both the Chinese and Japanese coasts,indicating a high-level along-coast gene flow,which might result from ocean current transport and common ground for over-wintering.

Climatic variation in the U.S. PacificNorthwest (PNW) affects epidemics of wheat stripe rust caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici. Previous models only estimated disease severity at the flowering stage, which may not predict the actual yield loss. To identify weather factors correlated to stripe rust epidemics and develop models for predicting potential yield loss, correlation and regression analyses were conducted using weather parameters and historical yield loss data from 1993 to 2007 for winter wheat and 1995 to 2007 for spring wheat. Among 1,376 weather variables, 54 were correlated to yield loss of winter wheat and 18 to yield loss of spring wheat. Among the seasons, winter temperature variables were more highly correlated to wheat yield loss than the other seasons. The sum of daily temperatures and accumulated negative degree days of February were more highly correlated to winter wheat yield loss than the other monthly winter variables. In addition, the number of winter rainfall days was found correlated with yield loss. Six yield loss models were selected for each of winter and spring wheats based on their better correlation coefficients, time of weather data availability during the crop season, and better performance in validation tests. Compared with previous models, the new system of using a series of the selected models has advantages that should make it more suitable for forecasting and managing stripe rust in the major wheat growing areas in the U.S. PNW, where the weather conditions have become more favorable to stripe rust.

This report summarizes progress in environmental sciences research conducted by PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) for the US Department of Energy`s (DOE) Office of Health and Environmental Research in FY 1991. Each project in the PNL research program is a component in an integrated laboratory, intermediate-scale, and field approach designed to examine multiple phenomena at increasing levels of complexity. Examples include definition of the role of fundamental geochemical and physical phenomena on the diversity and function of microorganisms in the deep subsurface, and determination of the controls on nutrient, water, and energy dynamics in arid ecosystems and their response to stress at the landscape scale. The Environmental Science Research Center has enable PNL to extend fundamental knowledge of subsurface science to develop emerging new concepts for use in natural systems and in environmental restoration of DOE sites. New PNL investments have been made in developing advanced concepts for addressing chemical desorption kinetics, enzyme transformations and redesign, the role of heterogeneity in contaminant transport, and modeling of fundamental ecological processes.

This study presents a stable isotope hydrology and geochemical analysis in the inland PacificNorthwest (PNW) of the USA. Isotope ratios were used to estimate mean transit times (MTTs) in natural and human-altered watersheds using the FLOWPC program. Isotope ratios in precipitation resulted in a regional meteoric water line of δ(2)H = 7.42·δ(18)O + 0.88 (n = 316; r(2) = 0.97). Isotope compositions exhibited a strong temperature-dependent seasonality. Despite this seasonal variation, the stream δ(18)O variation was small. A significant regression (τ = 0.11D(-1.09); r(2) = 0.83) between baseflow MTTs and the damping ratio was found. Baseflow MTTs ranged from 0.4 to 0.6 years (human-altered), 0.7 to 1.7 years (mining-altered), and 0.7 to 3.2 years (forested). Greater MTTs were represented by more homogenous aqueous chemistry whereas smaller MTTs resulted in more dynamic compositions. The isotope and geochemical data presented provide a baseline for future hydrological modelling in the inland PNW.

This report summarizes progress in environmental sciences research conducted by PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) for the Office of Health and Environmental Research in FY 1987. Research is directed toward developing a fundamental understanding of processes controlling the long-term fate and biological effects of fugitive chemicals and other stressors resulting from energy development. The research, focused on terrestrial, subsurface, and coastal marine systems, forms the basis for defining and quantifying processes that affect humans and the environment at the regional and global levels. Research is multidisciplinary and multitiered, providing integrated system-level insights into critical environmental processes. Research initiatives in subsurface microbiology and transport, global change, radon, and molecular sciences are building on PNL technical strengths in biogeochemistry, hydrodynamics, molecular biology, and theoretical ecology. Unique PNL facilities are used to probe multiple phenomena complex relationships at increasing levels of complexity. Intermediate-scale experimental systems are used to examine arid land watershed dynamics, aerosol behavior and effects, and multidimensional subsurface transport. In addition, field laboratories (the National Environmental Research Park and Marine Research Laboratory) are used in conjunction with advanced measurement techniques to validate concepts and models, and to extrapolate the results to the system and global levels. Strong university liaisons now in existence are being markedly expanded so that PNL resources and the specialized technical capabilities in the university community can be more efficiently integrated.

Domestic dogs and cats are commonly infected with a variety of protozoan enteric parasites, including Blastocystis spp. In addition, there is growing interest in Blastocystis as a potential enteric pathogen, and the possible role of domestic and in-contact animals as reservoirs for human infection. Domestic animals in shelter environments are commonly recognized to be at higher risk for carriage of enteropathogens. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of infection of shelter-resident and client-owned domestic dogs and cats with Blastocystis spp in the PacificNorthwest region of the USA. Fecal samples were collected from 103 shelter-resident dogs, 105 shelter-resident cats, 51 client-owned dogs and 52 client-owned cats. Blastocystis were detected and subtypes assigned using a nested PCR based on small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences. Shelter-resident animals were significantly more likely to test positive for Blastocystis (PBlastocystis subtypes. No relationship was seen between Blastocystis carriage and the presence of gastrointestinal disease signs in either dogs or cats. These data suggest that, as previously reported for other enteric pathogens, shelter-resident companion animals are a higher risk for carriage of Blastocystis spp. The lack of relationship between Blastocystis carriage and intestinal disease in shelter-resident animals suggests that this organism is unlikely to be a major enteric pathogen in these species.

Currently, the broad goals of atmospheric research at PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) are to describe and predict the nature and fate of atmospheric contaminants and to develop an understanding of the atmospheric processes contributing to their distribution on local, regional, and continental scales in the air, in clouds, and on the surface. For several years, studies of transport and diffusion have been extended to mesoscale areas of complex terrain. Atmospheric cleansing research has expanded to a regional scale, multilaboratory investigation of precipitation scavenging processes involving the transformation and wet deposition of chemicals composing ''acid rain.'' In addition, the redistribution and long-range transport of transformed contaminants passing through clouds is recognized as a necessary extension of our research to even larger scales in the future. A few long-range tracer experiments conducted in recent years and the special opportunity for measuring the transport and removal of radioactivity following the Chernobyl reactor accident of April 1986 offer important initial data bases for studying atmospheric processes at these super-regional scales.

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Identifying causal relationships in phylogeographic and landscape genetic investigations is notoriously difficult, but can be facilitated by use of multispecies comparisons. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used data visualizations to identify common spatial patterns within single lineages of four taxa inhabiting PacificNorthwest forests (northern spotted owl: Strix occidentalis caurina; red tree vole: Arborimus longicaudus; southern torrent salamander: Rhyacotriton variegatus; and western white pine: Pinus monticola. Visualizations suggested that, despite occupying the same geographical region and habitats, species responded differently to prevailing historical processes. S. o. caurina and P. monticola demonstrated directional patterns of spatial genetic structure where genetic distances and diversity were greater in southern versus northern locales. A. longicaudus and R. variegatus displayed opposite patterns where genetic distances were greater in northern versus southern regions. Statistical analyses of directional patterns subsequently confirmed observations from visualizations. Based upon regional climatological history, we hypothesized that observed latitudinal patterns may have been produced by range expansions. Subsequent computer simulations confirmed that directional patterns can be produced by expansion events. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We discuss phylogeographic hypotheses regarding historical processes that may have produced observed patterns. Inferential methods used here may become increasingly powerful as detailed simulations of organisms and historical scenarios become plausible. We further suggest that inter-specific comparisons of historical patterns take place prior to drawing conclusions regarding effects of current anthropogenic change within landscapes.

PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) is currently conducting research for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on uranium recovery process wastes for both active and inactive operations. NRC-sponsored uranium recovery research at PNL is focused on NRC regulatory responsibilities for uranium-recovery operations: license active milling and in situ extraction operations; concur on the acceptability of DOE remedial-action plans for inactive sites; and license DOE to maintain inactive sites following remedial actions. PNL's program consists of four coordinated projects comprised of a program management task and nine research tasks that address the critical technical and safety issues for uranium recovery. Specifically, the projects endeavor to find and evaluate methods to: prevent erosion of tailings piles and prevent radon release from tailings piles; evaluate the effectiveness of interim stabilization techniques to prevent wind erosion and transport of dry tailings from active piles; estimate the dewatering and consolidation behavior of slurried tailings to promote early cover placement; design a cover-protection system to prevent erosion of the cover by expected environmental stresses; reduce seepage into ground water and prevent ground-water degradation; control solution movement and reaction with ground water in in-situ extraction operations; evaluate natural and induced restoration of ground water in in-situ extraction operations; and monitor releases to the environment from uranium recovery facilities.

The upper-ocean responses to Typhoon Megi (2010) are investigated using data from ARGO floats and the satellite TMI. The experiments are conducted using a three-dimensional Princeton Ocean Model (POM) to assess the storm, which affected the NorthwestPacific Ocean (NWP) and the South China Sea (SCS). Results show that the upwelling and entrainment experiment together account for 93% of the SST anomalies, where typhoon-induced upwelling may cause strong ocean cooling. In addition, the anomalous SST cooling is stronger in the SCS than in the NWP. The most striking feature of the ocean response is the presence of a two-layer inertial wave in the SCS—a feature that is absent in the NWP. The near-inertial oscillations can be generated as typhoon wakes, which have maximum flow velocity in the surface mixed layer and may last for a few days, after the typhoon's passage. Along the typhoon tracks, the horizontal currents in the upper ocean show a series of alternating negative and positive anomalies emanating from the typhoon.

Wave energy resource is a very important ocean renewable energy. A reliable assessment of wave energy resources must be performed before they can be exploited. Compared with wave model, altimeter can provide more accuratein situ observations for ocean wave which can be as a novel method for wave energy assessment. The advantage of altimeter data is to provide accurate significant wave height observations for wave. In order to develop characteristic and advantage of altimeter data and apply altimeter data to wave energy assessment, in this study, we established an assessing method for wave energy in local sea area which is dedicated to altimeter data. This method includes three parts including data selection and processing, establishment of evaluation indexes system and criterion of regional division. Then a case study of NorthwestPacific was performed to discuss specific application for this method. The results show that assessing method in this paper can assess reserves and temporal and spatial distribution effectively and provide scientific references for the siting of wave power plants and the design of wave energy convertors.

Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is a warm season grass with a growing season of 60–100 days. It is a highly nutritious cereal grain used for human consumption, bird seed, and/or ethanol production. Unique characteristics, such as drought and heat tolerance, make proso millet a promising alternative cash crop for the PacificNorthwest (PNW) region of the United States. Development of proso millet varieties adapted to dryland farming regions of the PNW could give growers a much-needed option for diversifying their predominantly wheat-based cropping systems. In this review, the agronomic characteristics of proso millet are discussed, with emphasis on growth habits and environmental requirements, place in prevailing crop rotations in the PNW, and nutritional and health benefits. The genetics of proso millet and the genomic resources available for breeding adapted varieties are also discussed. Last, challenges and opportunities of proso millet cultivation in the PNW are explored, including the potential for entering novel and regional markets. PMID:28119699

Wheat stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, occurs every year and causes significant yield losses in the U.S. PacificNorthwest (PNW). A large number of P. striiformis f. tritici races are identified every year and predominant races have changed rapidly. Barberry and mahonia plants, which have been identified under controlled conditions as alternate hosts for the fungus, are found in the region. However, whether sexual reproduction occurs in the P. striiformis f. sp. tritici population under natural conditions is not clear. To determine the reproduction mode of the P. striiformis f. sp. tritici population using virulence and molecular markers, a systematic collection of leaf samples with a single stripe of uredia was made in 26 fields in the PNW in 2010. In total, 270 isolates obtained from the PNW collection, together with 66 isolates from 20 other states collected in the same year, were characterized by virulence tests and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. In total, 21 races and 66 multilocus genotypes (MLGs) were detected, of which 15 races and 32 MLGs were found in the PNW. Cluster analysis with the SSR marker data revealed two genetic groups, which were significantly correlated to the two virulence groups. The analyses of genotype/individual ratio, multilocus linkage disequilibrium, and heterozygosity strongly supported asexual reproduction for the pathogen population in the PNW, as well as other regions of the United States.

To understand the impact of Fukushima Nuclear Accident(FNA), eight cruises were performed from 2011-2014. This paper reports the seawater monitoring results of the third cruise, which was conducted in May-June 2012.The northwestPacific was clearly influenced even more than one year after FNA. However, compared to the monitoring results of the first and second cruises, which were performed in 2011, the seawater radioactivity of the third cruise decreased greatly. The highest value and the highest average of 137Cs and 134Cs were found in the 200 m layer, which suggested that 137Cs and 134Cs were most likely transported to a depth of 200 m or deeper. At 21.50°N, 125.00°E, 134Cs was found at a depth of 200 m, which is 430 km away from the southernmost point of Taiwan Island. The formation and subduction of Subtropical Mode Water is the most reasonable explanation for this process. The coastal water of China was not impacted by the radioactive pollutants released from the FNA. The radiation increments from 137Cs, 134Cs and 90Sr are only one-thousandth to one-millionth of the screening rate (10 μGy/h) according to the estimation using ERICA tools.

This bibliography lists publications (831 abstracts) from the PacificNorthwest Laboratory's Department of Energy sponsored research and development programs from January 1978 through July of 1982. The abstracts are grouped in subject categories, as shown in the table of contents. Entries in the subject index also facilitate access by subject, e.g., High-Level Radioactive Wastes. Three indexes, each preceded by a brief description, are provided: personal author, subject, and report number. Cited are research reports, journal articles, books, patents, theses, and conference papers. Excluded are technical progress reports. Since 1978 the Nuclear Waste Management Quarterly Progress Report has been published under the series number PNL-3000. Beginning in 1982, this publication has been issued semiannually, under the series number PNL-4250. This bibliography is the successor to two others, BNWL-2201 (covering the years 1965-1976) and PNL-4050 (1975-1978). It is intended to provide a useful reference to literature in waste management written or compiled by PNL staff.

This report summarizes progress in environmental sciences research conducted by PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) for the Office of Health and Environmental Research in FY 1988. Research is directed toward developing a fundamental understanding of processes controlling the long-term fate and biological effects of fugitive chemicals and other stressors resulting from energy development. The PNL research program continues to make important contributions to the resolution of important national environmental problems. The research, focused principally on subsurface contaminant transport and detection and management of human-induced changes in biological systems, forms the basis for defining and quantifying processes that affect humans and the environment at the regional and global levels. Each research project forms a component in an integrated laboratory- intermediated scale field approach designed to examine multiple phenomena at increasing levels of complexity. This approach is providing system-level insights into critical environmental processes. Strong university liaisons now in existence are being markedly expanded so that PNL resources and the specialized technical capabilities in the university community can be more efficiently integrated. Building on PNL technical strengths in geochemistry, environment microbiology, hydrodynamics, and statistical ecology, research in the environmental sciences is in an exciting phase, and new investments have been made in molecular sciences, chemistry, biotechnology, use of remote imagery, and theoretical ecology. The section on exploratory research provides unique insight into the value of these investments and into the future of PNL environmental sciences programs.

Multiple large tree trunks have been discovered in landslide deposits dating to before the last full-glacial provide a new source for paleo-climatic reconstructions from the northwest coast of North America. Excavation during US Highway 20 realignment through the Oregon Coast Range uncovered organic deposits at depth that included the boles of twelve large trees. Radiocarbon dates on subsurface organic material from multiple landslide deposits range from 17,850 ± 100 to >46,400 (radiocarbon dates B.P.). A single cohort of twelve tree trunks, found emplaced nearly upright, date to >53,000 radiocarbon years B.P. The sedimentary deposits are interpreted as paleo-translational landslides involving the Tyee Formation. The trees are tentatively identified as Thuja plicata, Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Abies spp. Preservation of the wood material and associated macrofossils is excellent because of clay sediments that encased the material, halting decomposition. Preliminary analysis shows excellent preservation of late-wood rings but the early wood is composed primarily of ghost tracheids. Ring counts from a portion of the Thuja plicata bole, a four inch block of outer rings, contained between 120 to 130 rings of annual growth with good sensitivity for climate reconstruction. This makes the find particularly important for inferring high-resolution environmental variability, because it is one of only very few deposits of wood of this age worldwide. In addition to paleobotanical and paleoclimatic information, the large amount of wood will be used for radioisotope and stable isotope studies.

Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) is an emerging remote-sensing technology with promising potential to assist in mapping, monitoring, and assessment of forest resources. Continuous technological advancement and substantial reductions in data acquisition cost have enabled acquisition of laser data over entire states and regions. These developments have triggered an...

We present two calculations of pollutant dispersal in the Pacific Ocean: (1) during possible ship-wrecks in the process of spent nuclear fuel transportation from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and (2) pollutant spread from the Japanese coast after the Fukushima-1 nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011. The circulation was calculated using a σ model of ocean hydrothermodynamics developed at the Institute of Numerical Mathematics (INM), Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS); it is adapted to cover the Pacific Ocean basin from the equator to the Bering Strait with a high (1/8)° spatial resolution and it is capable of reproducing the mesoscale ocean variations. The pollutant dispersal in the case of possible shipwrecks was estimated for currents characteristic for a statistically average year with atmospheric forcing in accordance with the so-called normal CORE year data. The pollution spread from the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant (NPP) was estimated by calculating the circulation with the real atmospheric forcing in accordance with the NCEP analysis data obtained from the Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia. It is noteworthy that a simplified assimilation of the observed sea surface temperature (SST) was performed. In both cases the currents were calculated simultaneously with the transport calculation of the pollutant as a passive admixture, which corresponds to a real-time calculation of pollutant transport. A map analysis of pollution dispersal shows that the horizontal transport is substantially more intense in the upper ocean layers than in deep ones. Therefore, like in the North branch of Kuroshio, pollutants can be delivered to the deep layers not through deep-water horizontal transport, but rather as a result of vertical downwelling from the already contaminated upper layers. However, the complex three-dimensional structure of the horizontal and vertical transport may lead to reverse situations. A calculation of pollution transport from the Fukushima-1 NPP showed that

The goal of this report is to provide insight into the information technology needs of law enforcement based on first hand observations as an embedded and active participant over the course of two plus years. This report is intended as a preliminary roadmap for technology and project investment that will benefit the entire law enforcement community nationwide. Some recommendations are immediate and have more of an engineering flavor, while others are longer term and will require research and development to solve.

Full Text Available In comparison to other sectors of the marine system, the palaeoceanography of the subarctic North Pacific Ocean is poorly constrained. New diatom isotope records of δ13C, δ18O, δ30Si (δ13Cdiatom, δ18Odiatom, and δ30Sidiatom are presented alongside existing geochemical and isotope records to document changes in photic zone conditions, including nutrient supply and the efficiency of the soft-tissue biological pump, between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS 4 and MIS 5e. Peaks in opal productivity in MIS 5b/c and MIS 5e are both associated with the breakdown of the regional halocline stratification and increased nutrient supply to the photic zone. Whereas the MIS 5e peak is associated with low rates of nutrient utilisation, the MIS 5b/c peak is associated with significantly higher rates of nutrient utilisation. Both peaks, together with other smaller increases in productivity in MIS 4 and 5a, culminate with a significant increase in freshwater input which strengthens/re-establishes the halocline and limits further upwelling of sub-surface waters to the photic zone. Whilst δ30Sidiatom and previously published records of diatom δ15N (δ15Ndiatom (Brunelle et al., 2007, 2010 show similar trends until the latter half of MIS 5a, the records become anti-correlated after this juncture and into MIS 4, suggesting a possible change in photic zone state such as may occur with a shift to iron or silicon limitation.

Chytridiomycosis (infection by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) has been associated with amphibian declines in at least four continents. We report results of disease screens from 210 pond-breeding amphibians from 37 field sites in Oregon and Washington. We detected B. dendrobatidis on 28% of sampled amphibians, and we found ??? 1 detection of B. dendrobatidis from 43% of sites. Four of seven species tested positive for B. dendrobatidis, including the Northern Red-Legged Frog (Rana aurora), Columbia Spotted Frog (Rana luteiventris), and Oregon Spotted Frog (Rana pretiosa). We also detected B. dendrobatidis in nonnative American Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) from six sites in western and central Oregon. Our study and other recently published findings suggest that B. dendrobatidis has few geographic and host taxa limitations among North American anurans. Further research on virulence, transmissibility, persistence, and interactions with other stressors is needed to assess the potential impact of B. dendrobatidis on Pacific Northwestern amphibians. Copyright 2007 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.

Does climate determine species' ranges? Rapid rates of anthropogenic warming make this classic ecological question especially relevant. We ask whether climate controls range limits by quantifying relationships between climatic variables (precipitation, temperature) and tree growth across the altitudinal ranges of six Pacific Northwestern conifers on Mt. Rainier, Washington, USA. Results for three species (Abies amabilis, Callitropsis nootkatensis, Tsuga mertensiana) whose upper limits occur at treeline (> 1600 m) imply climatic controls on upper range limits, with low growth in cold and high snowpack years. Annual growth was synchronized among individuals at upper limits for these high-elevation species, further suggesting that stand-level effects such as climate constrain growth more strongly than local processes. By contrast, at lower limits climatic effects on growth were weak for these high-elevation species. Growth-climate relationships for three low-elevation species (Pseudotsuga menziesii, Thuja plicata, Tsuga heterophylla) were not consistent with expectations of climatic controls on upper limits, which are located within closed-canopy forest (climate controls altitudinal range limits at treeline, while local drivers (perhaps biotic interactions) influence growth in closed-canopy forests. Climate-change-induced range shifts in closed-canopy forests will therefore be difficult to predict accurately.

The supply of aggregates suitable for use in construction and maintenance of infrastructure in western North America is a continuing concern to the engineering and resources-management community. Steady population growth throughout the region has fueled demand for high-quality aggregates, in the face of rapid depletion of existing aggregate resources and slow and difficult permitting of new sources of traditional aggregate types. In addition to these challenges, the requirement for aggregates to meet various engineering standards continues to increase. In addition to their physical-mechanical properties, other performance characteristics of construction aggregates specifically depend on their mineralogy and texture. These properties can result in deleterious chemical reactions when aggregate is used in concrete mixes. When this chemical reaction-termed 'alkali-aggregate reaction' (AAR)-occurs, it can pose a major problem for concrete structures, reducing their service life and requiring expensive repair or even replacement of the concrete. AAR is thus to be avoided in order to promote the longevity of concrete structures and to ensure that public moneys invested in infrastructure are well spent. Because the AAR phenomenon is directly related to the mineral composition, texture, and petrogenesis of the rock particles that make up aggregates, an understanding of the relation between the geology and the performance of aggregates in concrete is important. In the PacificNorthwest, some aggregates have a moderate to high AAR potential, but many others have no or only a low AAR potential. Overall, AAR is not as widespread or serious a problem in the PacificNorthwest as in other regions of North America. The identification of reactive aggregates in the PacificNorthwest and the accurate prediction of their behavior in concrete continue to present challenges for the assessment and management of geologic resources to the owners and operators of pits and quarries and to the

Background Bi-directional flow of nutrients between marine and terrestrial ecosystems can provide essential resources that structure communities in transitional habitats. On the Pacific coast of North America, anadromous salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) constitute a dominant nutrient subsidy to aquatic habitats and riparian vegetation, although the contribution to terrestrial habitats is not well established. We use a dual isotope approach of δ15N and δ13C to test for the contribution of salmon nutrients to multiple trophic levels of litter-based terrestrial invertebrates below and above waterfalls that act as a barrier to salmon migration on two watersheds in coastal British Columbia. Results Invertebrates varied predictably in δ15N with enrichment of 3–8‰ below the falls compared with above the falls in all trophic groups on both watersheds. We observed increasing δ15N levels in our invertebrate groups with increasing consumption of dietary protein. Invertebrates varied in δ13C but did not always vary predictably with trophic level or habitat. From 19.4 to 71.5% of invertebrate total nitrogen was originally derived from salmon depending on taxa, watershed, and degree of fractionation from the source. Conclusions Enrichment of δ15N in the invertebrate community below the falls in conjunction with the absence of δ13C enrichment suggests that enrichment in δ15N occurs primarily through salmon-derived nitrogen subsidies to litter, soil and vegetation N pools rather than from direct consumption of salmon tissue or salmon tissue consumers. Salmon nutrient subsidies to terrestrial habitats may result in shifts in invertebrate community structure, with subsequent implications for higher vertebrate consumers, particularly the passerines. PMID:11914157

We have studied the prominent Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Massif (the highest peak in the world whose local base is at sea level, ~5.75km) in Northern Colombia and we are interested in quantifying the thermal and tectonic history of the Northernmost Andes during the Cenozoic in order to understand the complex interaction between the Caribbean, the South American and the Pacific plates. In order to do so, apatite fission track data (by the LA-ICP-MS method) has been used, collected along several traverses and a single vertical profile within the massif. Our results show that the easternmost part of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta exhumed at elevated rates (≥0.2 Km/My) during 65-58 Ma in response to the collision of the Caribbean Plateau with north-western South America. A second pulse of exhumation (≥0.32 Km/My) during 50-40 Ma was probably driven by the underthrusting of the Caribbean Plate beneath northern South America. More southern portions of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (the Sierra Nevada Province) exhumed rapidly during 26-29 Ma (~0.7 Km/My), whereas farther north, the northwestermost corner of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (the Santa Marta Province) exhumed at elevated rates during 30-25 Ma and 25-16 Ma. Our thermochronological data show that the highest exhumation rates within the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta progressed towards the northwest via the propagation of NW-verging thrusts. The late Oligocene-Miocene exhumation was mainly a consequence of compression originating at the Pacific margin of South America that also gave rise to uplift and exhumation in other regions of Eastern Colombia (e.g. in the Santander Massif). Major continental faults such as the left-lateral Santa Marta-Bucaramanga Fault have played an important role transferring the deformation, Exhumation of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Massif is not recorded after ~16 Ma, which is unexpected, given the high elevation and high erosive power of the climate, implying that rock and

Two predominant currents, the warm Kuroshio Current and the cold Oyashio Current, meet in the North-westPacific Ocean. The dynamics of physical oceanographic structures in this region, including frontal zones and meandering eddies, result in a highly productive habitat that serves as a favorable feeding ground for various commercially important species. Neon flying squid, Ommastrephes bartramii, is an im-portant oceanic squid, which is widely distributed in the North Pacific Ocean. Based on the catch data col-lected by Chinese squid jigging fleets and relevant environmental data, including sea surface temperature (SST) and fronts (represented by gradients of SST and thermocline) during 1998-2009, the variations of oceanic fronts and their influence on the fishing grounds of O. bartramii were evaluated, and the differ-ences in distribution of fishing grounds of O. bartramii in 2000 and 2002 were compared by describing the differences in vertical temperature between 0-300 m. It was found that the preferred horizontal tem-perature gradient of SST for O. bartramii tended to be centered at 0.01-0.02°C/nm, which attracted nearly 80% of the total fishing effort, and the preferred horizontal temperature gradients at the 50 m and 105 m layers were mainly located at 0.01-0.03°C/nm, which accounted for more than 70%of the total fishing effort during August-October. The preferred vertical temperature gradient within the 0-50 m layer for O. bartramii tended to be centered at 0.15-0.25°C/m during August and September and at 0.10-0.15°C/m in October, implying that the mixed surface layer was distributed at depths of 0-50 m. It was concluded that the vertical temperature gradient was more important than the horizontal temperature gradient in playing a role in forming the fishing ground. The results improved our understanding of the spatial dynamics of the O. bartramii fishery.

Full Text Available The world's oceans contain a complex mixture of micro-organisms that are for the most part, uncharacterized both genetically and biochemically. We report here a metagenomic study of the marine planktonic microbiota in which surface (mostly marine water samples were analyzed as part of the Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling expedition. These samples, collected across a several-thousand km transect from the North Atlantic through the Panama Canal and ending in the South Pacific yielded an extensive dataset consisting of 7.7 million sequencing reads (6.3 billion bp. Though a few major microbial clades dominate the planktonic marine niche, the dataset contains great diversity with 85% of the assembled sequence and 57% of the unassembled data being unique at a 98% sequence identity cutoff. Using the metadata associated with each sample and sequencing library, we developed new comparative genomic and assembly methods. One comparative genomic method, termed "fragment recruitment," addressed questions of genome structure, evolution, and taxonomic or phylogenetic diversity, as well as the biochemical diversity of genes and gene families. A second method, termed "extreme assembly," made possible the assembly and reconstruction of large segments of abundant but clearly nonclonal organisms. Within all abundant populations analyzed, we found extensive intra-ribotype diversity in several forms: (1 extensive sequence variation within orthologous regions throughout a given genome; despite coverage of individual ribotypes approaching 500-fold, most individual sequencing reads are unique; (2 numerous changes in gene content some with direct adaptive implications; and (3 hypervariable genomic islands that are too variable to assemble. The intra-ribotype diversity is organized into genetically isolated populations that have overlapping but independent distributions, implying distinct environmental preference. We present novel methods for measuring the genomic

Despite the PacificNorthwest's reputation for being wet, many cities west and east of the Cascade Range in the United States of America find it increasingly difficult to meet peak water supply demand during the dry summer months. Aquifers in the east side of Oregon and Washington are the primary water supply sources for a vast agriculture industry, and they have experienced significant declines prompting regulatory restrictions. For these reasons, municipalities west and east of the Cascade Range, as well as agricultural interests have opted to implement aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) projects as a unique water management technique to help meet peak summer water demands. Unique to the PacificNorthwest are the Miocene-age continental flood-basalt flows of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG), which consists of a thick, a really extensive series of extraordinarily huge lava flows. The CRBG plays host to an extensive regional aquifer system in eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, and western Oregon. The two ASR projects discussed in this paper, the City of Beaverton and Madison Farms, use CRBG aquifers to host their ASR projects. Since 1999, the City of Beaverton (City), Oregon, population 85,500, has installed three ASR wells hosted in the CRBG aquifer. Currently, the City stores approximately 1,703,000 cubic meters of treated drinking water annually with its ASR wells. The three wells can provide up to about 22,700 cubic meters per day of peaking capacity, which is equivalent to 35 percent of the City's summer peak day demand. Favorable hydrogeologic response and significant economic savings have made the City's ASR system immensely successful. Since 2006, Madison Farms, a 71-square-kilometer farm near Echo, Oregon, has been using ASR to increase summer pumping capacity from the CRBG. Unlike the City of Beaverton, which uses treated river water to recharge the CRBG aquifer, Madison Farms uses untreated shallow alluvial groundwater to recharge

PacificNorthwest (PNW) prairies are an imperiled ecosystem that contain a large number of plant species with high fidelity to this habitat. The few remaining high-quality PNW prairies harbor a number of sensitive, rare, and endangered plant species that may be further at-risk with climate change. Thus, PNW prairies are an excellent model system to examine how climate change will affect the distribution of native plant species in grassland sites. Our experimental objectives were to determine: (i) how climate change will affect the range distribution of native plant species; (ii) what life history stages are most sensitive to climate change in a group of key indicator native species; (iii) the robustness of current restoration techniques and suites of species to changing climate, and in particular, the relative competitiveness of native species versus exotic invasive species; and (iv) the effects of climate change on carbon and nutrient cycling and soil-microbial-plant feedbacks. We addressed these objectives by experimentally increasing temperature 2.5 to 3.0 ºC above ambient with overhead infrared lamps and increasing wet-season precipitation by 20% above ambient in three upland prairie sites in central-western Washington, central-western Oregon, and southwestern Oregon from fall 2010 through 2012. Additional precipitation was applied within 2 weeks of when it fell so precipitation intensity was increased, particularly during the winter rainy season but with minimal additions during the summer dry season. These three sites also represent a 520-km natural climate gradient of increasing degree of severity of Mediterranean climate from north to south. After removing the extant vegetation, we planted a diverse suite of 12 native species that have their northern range limit someplace within the PNW in each experimental plot. An additional 20 more wide-spread native species were also planted into each plot. We found that recruitment of plant species within their ranges

This report summarizes progress in OHER biological research and general life sciences research programs conducted conducted at PNL in FLY 1991. The research develops the knowledge and scientific principles necessary to identify, understand, and anticipate the long- term health consequences of energy-related radiation and chemicals. Our continuing emphasis is to decrease the uncertainty of health risk estimates from existing and newly developed energy-related technologies through an increased understanding of the ways in which radiation and chemicals cause biological damage.

Rock-walled archaeological features are notoriously hard to date, largely because of the absence of suitable organic material for radiocarbon dating. This study demonstrates the efficacy of dating clam garden wall construction using optical dating, and uses optical ages to determine how sedimentation rates in the intertidal zone are affected by clam garden construction. Clam gardens are rock-walled, intertidal terraces that were constructed and maintained by coastal First Nation peoples to increase bivalve habitat and productivity. These features are evidence of ancient shellfish mariculture on the PacificNorthwest and, based on radiocarbon dating, date to at least the late Holocene. Optical dating exploits the luminescence signals of quartz or feldspar minerals to determine the last time the minerals were exposed to sunlight (i.e., their burial age), and thus does not require the presence of organic material. Optical ages were obtained from three clam garden sites on northern Quadra Island, British Columbia, and their reliability was assessed by comparing them to radiocarbon ages derived from shells underneath the clam garden walls, as well as below the terrace sediments. Our optical and radiocarbon ages suggest that construction of these clam garden walls commenced between ~1000 and ~1700 years ago, and our optical ages suggest that construction of the walls was likely incremental and increased sedimentation rates in the intertidal zone by up to fourfold. Results of this study show that when site characteristics are not amenable to radiocarbon dating, optical dating may be the only viable geochronometer. Furthermore, dating rock-walled marine management features and their geomorphic impact can lead to significant advances in our understanding of the intimate relationships that Indigenous peoples worldwide developed with their seascapes. PMID:28182645

Full Text Available Archaeological data on the long history of interaction between indigenous people and salmon have rarely been applied to conservation management. When joined with ethnohistoric records, archaeology provides an alternative conceptual view of the potential for sustainable harvests and can suggest possible social mechanisms for managing human behavior. Review of the ~7,500-year-long fish bone record from two subregions of the PacificNorthwest shows remarkable stability in salmon use. As major changes in the ecological and social system occurred over this lengthy period, persistence in the fishery is not due simply to a lack of perturbation, but rather indicates resilience in the ecological-human system. Of several factors possibly contributing to resilience, low human population size and harvesting pressure, habitat enhancement, and suppression of competing predators do not appear to be of major importance. Flexible resource use, including human use of a range of local resources, many of which are linked in a food web with salmon, likely contributed to resilience. Most important were the beliefs and social institutions (including ownership, regulation, rituals, and monitoring that placed restraints on salmon use as a common pool resource. In contrast, only a small fraction of our modern society relies economically on or has direct interaction with the fish, which limits our concern and willingness to fundamentally change behaviors that contribute to habitat degradation and loss, the main challenges facing salmon populations today. Salmon recovery efforts may benefit substantially from investing more resources into establishing links between community groups and actual fish populations, which would create a sense of proprietorship, one of the keys to resilience in the indigenous salmon fishery.

Rock-walled archaeological features are notoriously hard to date, largely because of the absence of suitable organic material for radiocarbon dating. This study demonstrates the efficacy of dating clam garden wall construction using optical dating, and uses optical ages to determine how sedimentation rates in the intertidal zone are affected by clam garden construction. Clam gardens are rock-walled, intertidal terraces that were constructed and maintained by coastal First Nation peoples to increase bivalve habitat and productivity. These features are evidence of ancient shellfish mariculture on the PacificNorthwest and, based on radiocarbon dating, date to at least the late Holocene. Optical dating exploits the luminescence signals of quartz or feldspar minerals to determine the last time the minerals were exposed to sunlight (i.e., their burial age), and thus does not require the presence of organic material. Optical ages were obtained from three clam garden sites on northern Quadra Island, British Columbia, and their reliability was assessed by comparing them to radiocarbon ages derived from shells underneath the clam garden walls, as well as below the terrace sediments. Our optical and radiocarbon ages suggest that construction of these clam garden walls commenced between ~1000 and ~1700 years ago, and our optical ages suggest that construction of the walls was likely incremental and increased sedimentation rates in the intertidal zone by up to fourfold. Results of this study show that when site characteristics are not amenable to radiocarbon dating, optical dating may be the only viable geochronometer. Furthermore, dating rock-walled marine management features and their geomorphic impact can lead to significant advances in our understanding of the intimate relationships that Indigenous peoples worldwide developed with their seascapes.

Full Text Available Amphibian declines have been reported in mountainous areas around the western USA. Few data quantify the extent of population losses in the PacificNorthwest, a region in which amphibian declines have received much attention. From 2001–2004, we resurveyed historical breeding sites of two species of conservation concern, the Western Toad (Bufo [=Anaxyrus] boreas and Cascades Frog (Rana cascadae. We detected B. boreas breeding at 75.9% and R. cascadae breeding at 66.6% of historical sites. When we analyzed the data using occupancy models that accounted for detection probability, we estimated the current use of historically occupied sites in our study area was 84.9% (SE = 4.9 for B. boreas and 72.4% (SE = 6.6 for R. cascadae. Our ability to detect B. boreas at sites where they were present was lower in the first year of surveys (a low snowpack year and higher at sites with introduced fish. Our ability to detect R. cascadae was lower at sites with fish. The probability that B. boreas still uses a historical site for breeding was related to the easting of the site (+ and the age of record (-. None of the variables we analyzed was strongly related to R. cascadae occupancy. Both species had increased odds of occupancy with higher latitude, but model support for this variable was modest. Our analysis suggests that while local losses are possible, these two amphibians have not experienced recent, broad population losses in the Oregon Cascades. Historical site revisitation studies such as ours cannot distinguish between population losses and site switching, and do not account for colonization of new habitats, so our analysis may overestimate declines in occupancy within our study area.

Atmospheric research at PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) occurs in conjunction with the Atmospheric Chemistry Program (ACP) and with the Atmospheric Studies in Complex Terrain (ASCOT) Program. Solicitations for proposals and peer review were used to select research projects for funding in FY 1995. Nearly all ongoing projects were brought to a close in FY 1994. Therefore, the articles in this volume include a summary of the long-term accomplishments as well as the FY 1994 progress made on these projects. The following articles present summaries of the progress in FY 1994 under these research tasks: continental and oceanic fate of pollutants; research aircraft operations; ASCOT program management; coupling/decoupling of synoptic and valley circulations; interactions between surface exchange processes and atmospheric circulations; and direct simulations of atmospheric turbulence. Climate change research at PNL is aimed at reducing uncertainties in the fundamental processes that control climate systems that currently prevent accurate predictions of climate change and its effects. PNL is responsible for coordinating and integrating the field and laboratory measurement programs, modeling studies, and data analysis activities of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM) program. In FY 1994, PNL scientists conducted 3 research projects under the ARM program. In the first project, the sensitivity of GCM grid-ad meteorological properties to subgrid-scale variations in surface fluxes and subgrid-scale circulation patterns is being tested in a single column model. In the second project, a new and computationally efficient scheme has been developed for parameterizing stratus cloud microphysics in general circulation models. In the last project, a balloon-borne instrument package is being developed for making research-quality measurements of radiative flux divergence profiles in the lowest 1,500 meters of the Earth`s atmosphere.

Within the US Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Office of Health and Environmental Research (OHER), the atmospheric sciences and carbon dioxide research programs are part of the Environmental Sciences Division (ESD). One of the central missions of the division is to provide the DOE with scientifically defensible information on the local, regional, and global distributions of energy-related pollutants and their effects on climate. This information is vital to the definition and implementation of a sound national energy strategy. This volume reports on the progress and status of all OHER atmospheric science and climate research projects at the PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL). PNL has had a long history of technical leadership in the atmospheric sciences research programs within OHER. Within the ESD, the Atmospheric Chemistry Program (ACP) continues DOE`s long-term commitment to study the continental and oceanic fates of energy-related air pollutants. Research through direct measurement, numerical modeling, and laboratory studies in the ACP emphasizes the long-range transport, chemical transformation, and removal of emitted pollutants, oxidant species, nitrogen-reservoir species, and aerosols. The Atmospheric Studies in Complex Terrain (ASCOT) program continues to apply basic research on density-driven circulations and on turbulent mixing and dispersion in the atmospheric boundary layer to the micro- to mesoscale meteorological processes that affect air-surface exchange and to emergency preparedness at DOE and other facilities. Research at PNL provides basic scientific underpinnings to DOE`s program of global climate research. Research projects within the core carbon dioxide and ocean research programs are now integrated with those in the Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM), the Computer Hardware, Advanced Mathematics and Model Physics (CHAMMP), and Quantitative Links programs to form DOE`s contribution to the US Global Change Research Program.

Soil respiration is expected to increase with rising global temperatures but the degree of response may depend on soil moisture and other local factors. Experimental climate change studies from single sites cannot discern whether an observed response is site-dependent or generalizable. To deconvolve site-specific vs. regional climatic controls, we examined soil respiration for 18 months along a 520 km climate gradient in three PacificNorthwest, USA prairies that represents increasingly severe Mediterranean conditions from north to south. At each site we implemented a fully factorial combination of 2.5-3 °C warming and 20% added precipitation intensity. The response of soil respiration to warming was driven primarily by the latitudinal climate gradient and not site-specific factors. Warming increased respiration at all sites during months when soil moisture was not limiting. However, these gains were offset by reductions in respiration during seasonal transitions and summer drought due to lengthened periods of soil moisture limitation. The degree of this offset varied along the north-south climate gradient such that in 2011 warming increased cumulative annual soil respiration 28.6% in the northern site, 13.5% in the central site, and not at all in the southern site. Precipitation also stimulated soil respiration more frequently in the south, consistent with an increased duration of moisture limitation. The best predictors of soil respiration in nonlinear models were the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), antecedent soil moisture, and temperature but these models provided biased results at high and low soil respiration. NDVI was an effective integrator of climate and site differences in plant productivity in terms of their combined effects on soil respiration. Our results suggest that soil moisture limitation can offset the effect of warming on soil respiration, and that greater growing-season moisture limitation would constrain cumulative annual

Full Text Available Domestic dogs and cats are commonly infected with a variety of protozoan enteric parasites, including Blastocystis spp. In addition, there is growing interest in Blastocystis as a potential enteric pathogen, and the possible role of domestic and in-contact animals as reservoirs for human infection. Domestic animals in shelter environments are commonly recognized to be at higher risk for carriage of enteropathogens. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of infection of shelter-resident and client-owned domestic dogs and cats with Blastocystis spp in the PacificNorthwest region of the USA. Fecal samples were collected from 103 shelter-resident dogs, 105 shelter-resident cats, 51 client-owned dogs and 52 client-owned cats. Blastocystis were detected and subtypes assigned using a nested PCR based on small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences. Shelter-resident animals were significantly more likely to test positive for Blastocystis (P<0.05 for dogs, P = 0.009 for cats. Sequence analysis indicated that shelter-resident animals were carrying a variety of Blastocystis subtypes. No relationship was seen between Blastocystis carriage and the presence of gastrointestinal disease signs in either dogs or cats. These data suggest that, as previously reported for other enteric pathogens, shelter-resident companion animals are a higher risk for carriage of Blastocystis spp. The lack of relationship between Blastocystis carriage and intestinal disease in shelter-resident animals suggests that this organism is unlikely to be a major enteric pathogen in these species.

Forests dominated by Douglas-fir and western hemlock in the PacificNorthwest of the United States have strongly influenced concepts and policy concerning old-growth forest conservation. Despite the attention to their old-growth characteristics, a tendency remains to view their disturbance ecology in relatively simple terms, emphasizing infrequent, stand-replacing (SR) fire and an associated linear pathway toward development of those old-growth characteristics. This study uses forest stand- and age-structure data from 124 stands in the central western Cascades of Oregon to construct a conceptual model of stand development under the mixed-severity fire regime that has operated extensively in this region. Hierarchical clustering of variables describing the age distributions of shade-intolerant and shade-tolerant species identified six groups, representing different influences of fire frequency and severity on stand development. Douglas-fir trees > 400 years old were found in 84% of stands, yet only 18% of these stands (15% overall) lack evidence of fire since the establishment of these old trees, whereas 73% of all stands show evidence of at least one non-stand-replacing (NSR) fire. Differences in fire frequency and severity have contributed to multiple development pathways and associated variation in contemporary stand structure and the successional roles of the major tree species. Shade-intolerant species form a single cohort following SR fire, or up to four cohorts per stand in response to recurring NSR fires that left living trees at densities up to 45 trees/ha. Where the surviving trees persist at densities of 60-65 trees/ha, the postfire cohort is composed only of shade-tolerant species. This study reveals that fire history and the development of old-growth forests in this region are more complex than characterized in current stand-development models, with important implications for maintaining existing old-growth forests and restoring stands subject to timber

Coastal dunes provide valuable infrastructure for mitigating flooding and erosion hazard exposure by dissipating wave energy. Although vegetation is essential for foredune establishment and growth by facilitating sand deposition and stabilization, few have examined how plant distribution and abundance relates to foredune morphology in the field. The US PacificNorthwest coastal dune system presents an excellent case study for examining ecomorphodynamic processes on sand dunes. It exhibits a diverse array of geomorphological conditions, including a range of dissipative to reflective beaches and highly varied foredune morphology. Ecologically, the region contains two invasive, dune-building beachgrasses of the same genus (Ammophila arenaria and A. breviligulata). To explore how geomorphological and ecological drivers alter foredune morphology, we used a Bayesian network to assess the role of nearshore bathymetry, sand supply (measured as shoreline change rate), and beachgrass species identity and density in determining foredune morphology. At a finer scale, we also examined whether beachgrass density and species identity altered sand accretion between 2012 and 2014 at multiple points across the foredune using a mixed model. Our Bayesian network analysis indicates that nearshore slope, shoreline change rate, beach width, and beachgrass density directly or indirectly affect foredune width, slope, and height. However, we observed no relationships between species identity and foredune morphology. When examining the finer-scale relationship between beachgrass density and sand accretion at points along the foredune, we found that sand accretion was correlated with beachgrass stem density in 2012, new stem growth between 2012 and 2014, beach width, and elevation. Moreover, A. arenaria accreted more sand than A. breviligulata on the foredune face, suggesting that subtle differences in beachgrass morphology or growth patterns may produce differing accretion patterns across

Disturbance can catalyze rapid ecological change by causing widespread mortality and initiating successional pathways, and during times of climate change, disturbance may contribute to ecosystem state changes by initiating a new successional pathway. In the PacificNorthwest of North America (PNW), disturbance by wildfires strongly shapes the composition and structure of lowland forests, but understanding the role of fire over periods of climate change is challenging, because fire-return intervals are long (e.g., millennia) and the coniferous trees dominating these forests can live for many centuries. We developed stand-scale paleorecords of vegetation and fire that span nearly the past 14,000 yr to study how fire was associated with state changes and rapid dynamics in forest vegetation at the stand scale (1-3 ha). We studied forest history with sediment cores from small hollow sites in the Marckworth State Forest, located ~1 km apart in the Tsuga heterophylla Zone in the Puget Lowland ecoregion of western Washington, USA. The median rate of change in pollen/spore assemblages was similar between sites (0.12 and 0.14% per year), but at both sites, rates of change increased significantly following fire events (ranging up to 1% per year, with a median of 0.28 and 0.38%, P

Full Text Available Instream wood is a driver of geomorphic change in low-order streams, frequently altering morphodynamic processes. Instream wood is a frequently measured component of streams, yet it is a complex metric, responding to ecological and geomorphic forcings at a variety of scales. Here we seek to disentangle the relative importance of physical and biological processes that drive wood growth and delivery to streams across broad spatial extents. In so doing, we ask two primary questions: (1 is riparian vegetation a composite variable that captures the indirect effects of climate and disturbance on instream wood dynamics? (2 What are the direct and indirect relationships between geomorphic setting, vegetation, climate, disturbance, and instream wood dynamics? We measured riparian vegetation composition and wood frequency and volume at 720 headwater reaches within the American interior PacificNorthwest. We used ordination to identify relationships between vegetation and environmental attributes, and subsequently built a structural equation model to identify how climate and disturbance directly affect vegetation composition and how vegetation and geomorphic setting directly affect instream wood volume and frequency. We found that large wood volume and frequency are directly driven by vegetation composition and positively correlated to wildfire, elevation, stream gradient, and channel bankfull width. Indicator species at reaches with high volumes of wood were generally long-lived, conifer trees that persist for extended durations once delivered to stream habitats. Wood dynamics were also indirectly mediated by factors that shape vegetation: wildfire, precipitation, elevation, and temperature. We conclude that wood volume and frequency are driven by multiple interrelated climatic, geomorphic, and ecological variables. Vegetation composition and geomorphic setting directly mediate indirect relationships between landscape environmental processes and instream

This report summarizes progress in OHER biological research and general life sciences research programs conducted at PNL in FY 1992. The research develops the knowledge and fundamental principles necessary to identify, understand, and anticipate the long-term health consequences of energy-related radiation and chemicals. Our continuing emphasis is to decrease the uncertainty of health risk estimates from energy-related technologies through an increase understanding of the ways in which radiation and chemicals cause biological damage. Descriptors of individual research projects as detailed in this report one separately abstracted and indexed for the database.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the Demand Response Research Center (DRRC) performed a technology demonstration and evaluation for Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in Seattle City Light's (SCL) service territory. This report summarizes the process and results of deploying open automated demand response (OpenADR) in Seattle area with winter morning peaking commercial buildings. The field tests were designed to evaluate the feasibility of deploying fully automated demand response (DR) in four to six sites in the winter and the savings from various building systems. The project started in November of 2008 and lasted 6 months. The methodology for the study included site recruitment, control strategy development, automation system deployment and enhancements, and evaluation of sites participation in DR test events. LBNL subcontracted McKinstry and Akuacom for this project. McKinstry assisted with recruitment, site survey collection, strategy development and overall participant and control vendor management. Akuacom established a new server and enhanced its operations to allow for scheduling winter morning day-of and day-ahead events. Each site signed a Memorandum of Agreement with SCL. SCL offered each site $3,000 for agreeing to participate in the study and an additional $1,000 for each event they participated. Each facility and their control vendor worked with LBNL and McKinstry to select and implement control strategies for DR and developed their automation based on the existing Internet connectivity and building control system. Once the DR strategies were programmed, McKinstry commissioned them before actual test events. McKinstry worked with LBNL to identify control points that can be archived at each facility. For each site LBNL collected meter data and trend logs from the energy management and control system. The communication system allowed the sites to receive day-ahead as well as day-of DR test event signals. Measurement of DR was

This report summarizes progress on OHER human health, biological, and general life sciences research programs conducted at PNL in FY 1990. The research develops the knowledge and scientific principles necessary to identify understand, and anticipate the long-term health consequences of energy-related radiation and chemicals. Our continuing emphasis is to decrease the uncertainty of health risk estimates from existing and developing energy-related technologies through an increased of understanding of how radiation and chemicals cause biological damage. The sequence of this report of PNL research reflects the OHER programmatic structure. The first section, on human health research, concerns epidemiological and statistical studies for assessing health risks. The next section contains reports of biological research in laboratory animals and in vitro cell systems, including research with radionuclides and chemicals. The general life sciences research section reports research conducted for the OHER human genome research program.

PNNL is a large economic entity with a total of 4,308 employees, $939 million (M) in total funding, and $1.02 billion (B) in total spending during FY 2014. The number of employees that live in Washington State is 4,026 or 93 percent of the Laboratory staff. he Laboratory directly and indirectly supported $1.45 billion in economic output, 6,832 jobs, and $517 million in Washington State wage income from current operations. The state also gained more than $1.19 billion in output, over 6,200 jobs, and $444 million in income through closely related economic activities such as visitors, health care spending, spending by resident retirees, and spinoff companies. PNNL affects Washington’s economy through commonly recognized economic channels, including spending on payrolls and other goods and services that support Laboratory operations. Less commonly recognized channels also have their own impacts and include company-supported spending on health care for its staff members and retirees, spending of its resident retirees, Laboratory visitor spending, and the economic activities in a growing constellation of “spinoff” companies founded on PNNL research, technology, and managerial expertise. PNNL also has a significant impact on science and technology education and community not-for-profit organizations. PNNL is an active participant in the future scientific enterprise in Washington with the state’s K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. The Laboratory sends staff members to the classroom and brings hundreds of students to the PNNL campus to help train the next generation of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and technicians. This investment in human capital, though difficult to measure in terms of current dollars of economic output, is among the important lasting legacies of the Laboratory. Finally, PNNL contributes to the local community with millions of dollars’ worth of cash and in-kind corporate and staff contributions, all of which strengthen the

The main objective of staff exchanges is to facilitate cooperative activities between PNL staff and U.S. private industry. Funding for the projects is provided by the DOE Office of Energy Research Laboratory Technology Transfer Program. Dr. Matthew Donnelly, a Research Engineer in the Applied Physics Center, Initiated a PNL disclosure for Pulse Amplitude Synthesis and Control (PASC) converter intellectual property protection in 1993. PASC converter research at the PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) has been funded through the ETDI LDRD program. Recent work has centered on building the three-phase 20kW laboratory unit, the development of control algorithms and the study of the application of PASC converters in a 25MW wind power plant (through the staff exchange with RLA reported on here). An overview and description of the PASC converter is included as Appendix A.

Part 5 of the 1982 Annual Report to the Department of Energy's Office of Environmental Protection, Safety and Emergency Preparedness presents PacificNorthwest Laboratory's progress on work performed for the Office of Environmental Programs, Office of Operational Safety, and the Office of Nuclear Safety. The report is in three sections, introduced by blue divider pages, corresponding to the program elements: Technology Impacts, Environmental and Safety Engineering, Operational and Environmental Safety. In each section, articles describe progress made during FY 1982 on individual projects, as identified by the Field Task Proposal/Agreement. Authors of these articles represent a broad spectrum of capabilities derived from various segments of the Laboratory, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the work.

The PacificNorthwest National Laboratory was awarded ten Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) research grants in Fiscal Year 1996. This report gives a summary of how each grant is addressing significant DOE cleanup issues, including those at the Hanford Site. The technical progress made to date in each of these research projects is addressed in more detail in the individual progress reports contained in this document. This research is primarily focused in three areas--Tank Waste Remediation, Soil and Groundwater Cleanup, and Health Effects.

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory was awarded ten (10) Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) research grants in Fiscal Year 1996 and six (6) in Fiscal Year 1997. This section summarizes how each grant addresses significant US Department of Energy (DOE) cleanup issues, including those at the Hanford Site. The technical progress made to date in each of these research projects is addressed in more detail in the individual progress reports contained in this document. This research is focused primarily in four areas: Tank Waste Remediation, Spent Nuclear Fuel and Nuclear Materials, Soil and Groundwater Cleanup, and Health Effects.

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory was awarded ten Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) research grants in fiscal year 1996, six in fiscal year 1997, and eight in fiscal year 1998. This section summarizes how each grant addresses significant U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) cleanup issues, including those at the Hanford Site. The technical progress made to date in each of these research projects is addressed in more detail in the individual progress reports contained in this document. This research is focused primarily in five areas: Tank Waste Remediation, Decontamination and Decommissioning, Spent Nuclear Fuel and Nuclear Materials, Soil and Groundwater Clean Up, and Health Effects.

Part 5 of the 1987 Annual Report to the US Department of Energy's Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health presents PacificNorthwest Laboratory's progress on work performed for the Office of Nuclear Safety, the Office of Environmental Guidance and Compliance, the Office of Environmental Audit, and the Office of National Environmental Policy Act Project Assistance. For each project, as identified by the Field Work Proposal, articles describe progress made during fiscal year 1987. Authors of these articles represent a broad spectrum of capabilities derived from five of the seven technical centers of the Laboratory, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the work.

The last deglacial changes of the water column conditions in the NorthwestPacific were reconstructed using geochemical and isotope proxies (biogenic opal, CaCO3, total organic carbon (TOC), redox sensitive elements, bulk nitrogen isotopes (δ15N), and silicon isotopes (δ30Sidiatom) of diatom frustules) along with the published data (alkenone temperatures and benthic foraminiferal faunas) at core GH02-1030 recovered from the slope off Tokachi. Age model for core GH02-1030 was determined using both planktonic and benthic foraminiferal AMC 14C dates (Ikehara et al., 2006). Alkenone sea surface temperature (SST) shows that biogenic opal productivity was related to the degree of spring-summer mixed layer depth (MLD). Biogenic opal and TOC contents change almost in parallel. δ30Sidiatom values are high (~+1‰) during the Holocene and low (~-0.4‰) during the last glacial maximum. During the Bølling-Allerød (BA) and the Pre-Boreal (PB), silicic acid utilization represented by δ30Sidiatom increased when the biogenic opal productivity and export TOC productivity are high under shoaling of spring-summer MLD. The BA and the PB intervals contain laminated sediment layers, which are characterized by increases of CaCO3 contents, bulk δ15N values, and redox element concentrations (Mo/Al, Cd/Al, and U/Al). All these indicate low dissolved oxygen content of the bottom water during the BA and PB periods, which is supported by the good preservation of dysoxic benthic foraminifera. In addition, compared to the Holocene biogenic opal productivity and related silicic acid utilization, the high δ15N values during the BA and the PB seemed to be attributed more to denitrification through the water column rather than complete utilization of nitrate. Another distinct feature based on benthic foraminiferal assemblage, CaCO3 contents and redox element concentrations is that the dissolved oxygen content in bottom water was lower during the BA than the PB. Because biogenic opal

Rhyolitic volcanism associated with the Columbia River-Steens flood basalts of the PacificNorthwest has traditionally been viewed to be centered at McDermitt caldera near the Oregon-Nevada border starting at ~16.5 Ma. In recent years, more rhyolitic centers along this latitude with ages between 16.5-15.5 Ma have been identified and associated with the inception of the Yellowstone hotspot. However the footprint of plume-head related rhyolites becomes much larger when silicic centers of mid-Miocene age in eastern Oregon are included extending the distribution of such rhyolites to areas near the towns of Baker City and John Day ~250 km north of McDermitt. This study addresses one of these rhyolitic centers that was virtually unknown and that constitutes the northwestern extent of mid-Miocene rhyolites. Rhyolites are centered ~40 km SSW of John Day and are considered part of the Strawberry Volcanic Field (SVF), which consists of a diverse group of volcanic rocks ranging from basalt to rhyolite with abundant intermediate compositions. One existing age date of 17.3 Ma ± 0.36 (Robyn, 1977) - if confirmed by our ongoing study - places these rhyolites at the very onset of plume-head related rhyolites. Strawberry rhyolitic lavas are most voluminous in the southwestern portion of the SVF covering approximately 500 km2 between Bear and Logan Valley. The rhyolitic lavas tend to be phenocryst-poor (Strawberry Rhyolites show minor variability except in, Sr (10 - 200 ppm), Zr (65 - 450 ppm), Ti (300 - 3500 ppm), and Ba (350 - 1600 ppm). When normalized to upper crustal values, Strawberry Rhyolites plot around 1 with significant troughs at Sr, P, Ti, and minor troughs in Ba, Nb, and Zr. REE patterns indicate slight LREE enrichment with LaN/YbN values ranging from 2.5 to 8.3 and higher values correlate positively with other differentiation indices (e.g. Ba, Sr, Eu/Eu*). Furthermore, major elements (e.g. SiO2 and FeO*) and trace elements (e.g. Ba, Sr, La, Zr/Hf) display common

Full Text Available Abstract Background Parkinson's disease (PD is the second most common chronic neurological disorder of the elderly. Despite the fact that a comprehensive review of general health care in the United States showed that the quality of care delivered to patients usually falls below professional standards, there is limited data on the quality of care for patients with PD. Methods Using the administrative database, the PacificNorthwest Veterans Health Administration (VHA Data Warehouse, a population of PD patients with encounters from 10/1/98-12/31/04 were identified. A random sample of 350 patient charts underwent further review for diagnostic evaluation. All patients whose records revealed a physician diagnosis of definite or possible Idiopathic Parkinson's (IPD disease (n = 150 were included in a medical chart review to evaluate adherence to five evidence-based quality of care indicators. Results For those care indicators with good inter-rater reliability, 16.6% of care received by PD patients was adherent for annual depression screening, 23.4% of care was adherent for annual fall screening and, 67.3% of care was adherent for management of urinary incontinence. Patients receiving specialty care were more likely to be adherent with fall screening than those not receiving specialty care OR = 2.3, 95%CI = 1.2–4.2, but less likely to be adherent with management of urinary incontinence, OR = 0.3, 95%CI = 0.1–0.8. Patients receiving care outside the VA system were more likely to be adherent with depression screening OR = 2.4, 95%CI = >1.0–5.5 and fall screening OR = 2.2, 95%CI = 1.1–4.4. Conclusion We found very low rates of adherence for annual screening for depression and falls for PD patients but reasonable adherence rates for management of urinary incontinence. Interestingly, receiving concurrent specialty care did not necessarily result in higher adherence for all care indicators suggesting some coordination and role responsibility

Near-field tsunami hazards are credible threats to many coastal communities throughout the world. Along the U.S. PacificNorthwest coast, low-lying areas could be inundated by a series of catastrophic tsunamis that begin to arrive in a matter of minutes following a major Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) earthquake. Previous research has documented the residents, employees, tourists at public venues, customers at local businesses, and vulnerable populations at dependent-care facilities that are in CSZ-related tsunami-prone areas of northern California, Oregon, and the open-ocean coast of Washington. Community inventories of demographic attributes and other characteristics of the at-risk population have helped emergency managers to develop preparedness and outreach efforts. Although useful for distinct risk-reduction issues, these data can be difficult to fully appreciate holistically given the large number of community attributes. This presentation summarizes analytical efforts to classify communities with similar characteristics of community exposure to tsunami hazards. This work builds on past State-focused inventories of community exposure to CSZ-related tsunami hazards in northern California, Oregon, and Washington. Attributes used in the classification, or cluster analysis, fall into several categories, including demography of residents, spatial extent of the developed footprint based on mid-resolution land cover data, distribution of the local workforce, and the number and type of public venues, dependent-care facilities, and community-support businesses. As we were unsure of the number of different types of communities, we used an unsupervised-model-based clustering algorithm and a v-fold, cross-validation procedure (v=50) to identify the appropriate number of community types. Ultimately we selected class solutions that provided the appropriate balance between parsimony and model fit. The goal of the exposure classification is to provide emergency managers with

With the increasing effects of global climate change and fishing activities, the spatial distribution of the neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) is changing in the traditional fishing ground of 150°-160°E and 38°-45°N in the northwestPacific Ocean. This research aims to identify the spatial hot and cold spots (i.e. spatial clusters) of O. bartramii to reveal its spatial structure using commercial fishery data from 2007 to 2010 collected by Chinese mainland squid-jigging fleets. A relatively strongly-clustered distribution for O. bartramii was observed using an exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) method. The results show two hot spots and one cold spot in 2007 while only one hot and one cold spots were identified each year from 2008 to 2010. The hot and cold spots in 2007 occupied 8.2% and 5.6% of the study area, respectively; these percentages for hot and cold spot areas were 5.8% and 3.1% in 2008, 10.2% and 2.9% in 2009, and 16.4% and 11.9% in 2010, respectively. Nearly half (>45%) of the squid from 2007 to 2009 reported by Chinese fleets were caught in hot spot areas while this percentage reached its peak at 68.8% in 2010, indicating that the hot spot areas are central fishing grounds. A further change analysis shows the area centered at 156°E/43.5°N was persistent as a hot spot over the whole period from 2007 to 2010. Furthermore, the hot spots were mainly identified in areas with sea surface temperature (SST) in the range of 15-20°C around warm Kuroshio Currents as well as with the chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentration above 0.3 mg/m3. The outcome of this research improves our understanding of spatiotemporal hotspots and its variation for O. bartramii and is useful for sustainable exploitation, assessment, and management of this squid.

With the increasing effects of global climate change and fishing activities, the spatial distribution of the neon flying squid ( Ommastrephes bartramii) is changing in the traditional fishing ground of 150°-160°E and 38°-45°N in the northwestPacific Ocean. This research aims to identify the spatial hot and cold spots (i.e. spatial clusters) of O. bartramii to reveal its spatial structure using commercial fishery data from 2007 to 2010 collected by Chinese mainland squid-jigging fleets. A relatively strongly-clustered distribution for O. bartramii was observed using an exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) method. The results show two hot spots and one cold spot in 2007 while only one hot and one cold spots were identified each year from 2008 to 2010. The hot and cold spots in 2007 occupied 8.2% and 5.6% of the study area, respectively; these percentages for hot and cold spot areas were 5.8% and 3.1% in 2008, 10.2% and 2.9% in 2009, and 16.4% and 11.9% in 2010, respectively. Nearly half (>45%) of the squid from 2007 to 2009 reported by Chinese fleets were caught in hot spot areas while this percentage reached its peak at 68.8% in 2010, indicating that the hot spot areas are central fishing grounds. A further change analysis shows the area centered at 156°E/43.5°N was persistent as a hot spot over the whole period from 2007 to 2010. Furthermore, the hot spots were mainly identified in areas with sea surface temperature (SST) in the range of 15-20°C around warm Kuroshio Currents as well as with the chlorophyll- a (chl- a) concentration above 0.3 mg/m3. The outcome of this research improves our understanding of spatiotemporal hotspots and its variation for O. bartramii and is useful for sustainable exploitation, assessment, and management of this squid.

Full Text Available Simulations of crop yields under climate change are subject to uncertainties whose quantification is important for effective use of projected results for adaptation and mitigation strategies. In the US PacificNorthwest (PNW, studies based on single crop models and weather projections downscaled from a few general circulation models (GCM have indicated mostly beneficial effects of climate change on winter wheat production for most of the twenty-first century. In this study we evaluated the uncertainty in the projection of winter wheat yields at seven sites in the PNW using five crop growth simulation models (CropSyst, APSIM, DSSAT, STICS, and EPIC and daily weather data downscaled from 14 GCMs for 2 representative concentration pathways (RCP of atmospheric CO2 (RCP4.5 and 8.5. All crop models were calibrated for high, medium, and low precipitation dryland sites and one irrigated site using 1979–2010 as the baseline period. All five models were run from years 2000 to 2100 to evaluate the effect of future conditions (precipitation, temperature and atmospheric CO2 on winter wheat grain yield. Simulations of future climatic conditions and impacts were organized into three 31-year periods centered around the years 2030, 2050, and 2070. All models predicted a decrease of the growing season length and crop transpiration, and increase in transpiration-use efficiency, biomass production, and yields, but with substantial variation that increased from the 2030s to 2070s. Most of the uncertainty (up to 85% associated with predictions of yield was due to variation among the crop models. Maximum uncertainty due to GCMs was 15% which was less than the maximum uncertainty associated with the interaction between the crop model effect and GCM effect (25%. Large uncertainty associated with the interaction between crop models and GCMs indicated that the effect of GCM on yield varied among the five models. The mean of the ensemble of all crop models and GCMs

point demonstrates the importance of using model out as a forum for discussion along with other information, rather than using model output in an inappropriately predictive sense. These lessons are being applied currently to other national forests in the PacificNorthwest to contribute in vulnerability assessments.

Energy efficiency stands out with its potential to address a number of challenges that today's electric utilities face, including increasing and changing electricity demand, shrinking operating capacity, and decreasing system reliability and flexibility. Being the least cost and least risky alternative, the share of energy efficiency programs in utilities' energy portfolios has been on the rise since the 1980s, and their increasing importance is expected to continue in the future. Despite holding great promise, the ability to determine and invest in only the most promising program alternatives plays a key role in the successful use of energy efficiency as a utility-wide resource. This issue becomes even more significant considering the availability of a vast number of potential energy efficiency programs, the rapidly changing business environment, and the existence of multiple stakeholders. This dissertation introduces hierarchical decision modeling as the framework for energy efficiency program planning in electric utilities. The model focuses on the assessment of emerging energy efficiency programs and proposes to bridge the gap between technology screening and cost/benefit evaluation practices. This approach is expected to identify emerging technology alternatives which have the highest potential to pass cost/benefit ratio testing procedures and contribute to the effectiveness of decision practices in energy efficiency program planning. The model also incorporates rank order analysis and sensitivity analysis for testing the robustness of results from different stakeholder perspectives and future uncertainties in an attempt to enable more informed decision-making practices. The model was applied to the case of 13 high priority emerging energy efficiency program alternatives identified in the PacificNorthwest, U.S.A. The results of this study reveal that energy savings potential is the most important program management consideration in selecting emerging energy

The wide use of renewable energy technologies for generating electricity can be seen as one way of meeting environmental and climate change challenges along with a progression to a low-carbon economy. A large number of policy instruments have been formed and employed to support the adoption of renewable energy technologies in the power generation sector. However, the success of these policies in achieving their goals relies on how effective they are in satisfying their targets and thus increasing renewable energy adoption. One measurement for effectiveness of policy instruments can be their contribution to the input of the process of renewable energy adoption and their effect on satisfying regional goal. The objective of this research is evaluate the effectiveness of energy policy instruments on increasing the adoption of renewable energy by developing a comprehensive evaluation model. Criteria used in this assessment depend on five perspectives that are perceived by decision makers as important for adoption process. The decision model linked the perspectives to policy targets and various energy policy instruments. These perspectives are: economic, social, political, environmental and technical. The research implemented the hierarchical decision model (HDM) to construct a generalized policy assessment framework. Data for wind energy adoption in the PacificNorthwest region were collected as a case study and application for the model. Experts' qualitative judgments were collected and quantified using the pair-wise comparison method and the final rankings and effectiveness of policy alternatives with respect to the mission were identified. Results of this research identified economic feasibility improvement of renewable energy projects as the most influential perspective and that renewable portfolio standards and tax credits are the two most effective criteria to accomplish that. The research also applied sensitivity analysis and scenario analysis to identify the

The PacificNorthwest Site Office (PNSO) manages the contract for operations at the U.S. Depart¬ment of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Site in Richland, Washington. Radiological operations at the DOE-SC PNNL Site expanded in 2010 with the completion of facilities at the Physical Sciences Facility. As a result of the expanded radiological work at the site, the Washington State Department of Health (WDOH) has required that offsite environmental surveillance be conducted as part of the PNNL Site Radioactive Air Emissions License. The environ¬mental monitoring and surveillance requirements of various orders, regulations, and guidance documents consider emission levels and subsequent risk of negative human and environmental impacts. This Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMP) describes air surveillance activities at the DOE-SC PNNL Site. The determination of offsite environmental surveillance needs evolved out of a Data Quality Objectives process (Barnett et al. 2010) and Implementation Plan (Snyder et al. 2010). The entire EMP is a compilation of several documents, which include the Main Document (this text), Attachment 1: Sampling and Analysis Plan, Attachment 2: Data Management Plan, and Attachment 3: Dose Assessment Guidance.

The pollution caused by plastic debris is an environmental problem with increasing concern in the oceans. Among the plastic polymers, polystyrene (PS) is one of the most problematic plastics due to the direct public health risk associated with their dispersion, as well as the numerous adverse environmental impacts which arise both directly from the plastics and from their degradation products. Little is known about their potential distribution characteristics throughout the oceans. For the first time, we report here on the regional distribution of styrene monomer (SM), styrene dimers (SD; 2,4-diphenyl-1-butene, SD1; 1,3-diphenyl propane, SD2), and styrene trimer (2,4,6-triphenyl-1-hexene: ST1), as products of PS decomposition determined from samples of sand and seawater from the shorelines of the North-WestPacific ocean. In order to quantitatively determine SM, SD (=SD1+SD2), and ST1, a new analytical method was developed. The detection limit was 3.3 μg L(-1), based on a signal-to-noise ratio of three, which was well-suited to quantify levels of SM, SD, and ST1 in samples. Surprisingly, the concentrations of SM, SD, and ST1 in sand samples from the shorelines were consistently greater than those in seawater samples from the same location. The results of this study suggest that SM, SD, and ST1 can be widely dispersed throughout the North-WestPacific oceans.

Full Text Available Climate change impacts in PacificNorthwest Region of North America (PNW are projected to include increasing temperatures and changes in the seasonality of precipitation (increasing precipitation in winter, decreasing precipitation in summer. Changes in precipitation are also spatially varying, with the northwestern parts of the region generally experiencing greater increases in cool season precipitation than the southeastern parts. These changes in climate are projected to cause loss of snowpack and associated streamflow timing shifts which will increase cool season (October–March flows and decrease warm season (April–September flows and water availability. Hydrologic extremes such as the 100 yr flood and extreme low flows are also expected to change, although these impacts are not spatially homogeneous and vary with mid-winter temperatures and other factors. These changes have important implications for natural ecosystems affected by water, and for human systems.

The PNW is endowed with extensive water resources infrastructure and well-established and well-funded management agencies responsible for ensuring that water resources objectives (such as water supply, water quality, flood control, hydropower production, environmental services, etc. are met. Likewise, access to observed hydrological, meteorological, and climatic data and forecasts is in general exceptionally good in the United States and Canada, and is often supported by federally funded programs that ensure that these resources are freely available to water resources practitioners, policy makers, and the general public.

Access to these extensive resources support the argument that at a technical level the PNW has high capacity to deal with the potential impacts of natural climate variability on water resources. To the extent that climate change will manifest itself as moderate changes in variability or extremes, we argue that existing water resources

Full Text Available Climate change impacts in PacificNorthwest Region of North America (PNW are projected to include increasing temperatures and changes in the seasonality of precipitation (increasing precipitation in winter, decreasing precipitation in summer. Changes in precipitation are also spatially varying, with the northwestern parts of the region generally experiencing greater increases in cool season precipitation than the southeastern parts. These changes in climate are projected to cause loss of snowpack and associated streamflow timing shifts which will increase cool season (October–March flows and decrease warm season (April–September flows and water availability. Hydrologic extremes such as the 100 year flood and extreme low flows are also expected to change, although these impacts are not spatially homogeneous and vary with mid-winter temperatures and other factors. These changes have important implications for natural ecosystems affected by water, and for human systems.

The PNW is endowed with extensive water resources infrastructure and well-established and well-funded management agencies responsible for ensuring that water resources objectives (such as water supply, water quality, flood control, hydropower production, environmental services, etc. are met. Likewise, access to observed hydrological, meteorological, and climatic data and forecasts is in general exceptionally good in the United States and Canada, and access to these products and services is often supported by federally funded programs that ensure that these resources are available to water resources practitioners, policy makers, and the general public.

Access to these extensive resources support the argument that at a technical level the PNW has high capacity to deal with the potential impacts of natural climate variability on water resources. To the extent that climate change will manifest itself as moderate changes in variability or extremes, we argue that

Climate change impacts in PacificNorthwest Region of North America (PNW) are projected to include increasing temperatures and changes in the seasonality of precipitation (increasing precipitation in winter, decreasing precipitation in summer). Changes in precipitation are also spatially varying, with the northwestern parts of the region generally experiencing greater increases in cool season precipitation than the southeastern parts. These changes in climate are projected to cause loss of snowpack and associated streamflow timing shifts which will increase cool season (October-March) flows and decrease warm season (April-September) flows and water availability. Hydrologic extremes such as the 100 yr flood and extreme low flows are also expected to change, although these impacts are not spatially homogeneous and vary with mid-winter temperatures and other factors. These changes have important implications for natural ecosystems affected by water, and for human systems. The PNW is endowed with extensive water resources infrastructure and well-established and well-funded management agencies responsible for ensuring that water resources objectives (such as water supply, water quality, flood control, hydropower production, environmental services, etc.) are met. Likewise, access to observed hydrological, meteorological, and climatic data and forecasts is in general exceptionally good in the United States and Canada, and is often supported by federally funded programs that ensure that these resources are freely available to water resources practitioners, policy makers, and the general public. Access to these extensive resources support the argument that at a technical level the PNW has high capacity to deal with the potential impacts of natural climate variability on water resources. To the extent that climate change will manifest itself as moderate changes in variability or extremes, we argue that existing water resources infrastructure and institutional arrangements

The Columbia Basin of Washington State is the second largest wine grape growing region in the United States and presently contains 10 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). Eight of the Columbia Basin's AVAs are smaller subdivisions (sub-AVAs) of the 46,100 km2 Columbia Valley AVA. Although legally distinct, the Columbia Basin AVAs are generally similar with regard to climate, landscape, and soils, the principle components of physical terroir. To test whether the AVAs of the Columbia Basin are distinguishable based on the chemical properties of their soils, 53 samples were collected from vineyards considered to be representative within their respective AVAs. Vineyard soils from the other major viticultural regions of the PacificNorthwest, the Willamette Valley and Snake River Valley, were also sampled for comparison. Soils were sampled from a depth of 50-75 cm and analyzed for bulk chemistry and plant-available nutrients. Based on the analyzed components, only the Columbia Gorge, Walla Walla Valley, and Lake Chelan AVAs were distinctive. The chemical differences that that account for the distinctiveness are attributed to variations in climate and parent material. Columbia Gorge AVA soils are the most distinctive, with significantly higher iron, manganese, and titanium, and significantly lower calcium, soluble salts, and pH. These characteristics can be attributed a greater influence of basaltic bedrock on soil composition, and an average annual precipitation of 76 cm, which is three times that received by most of the Columbia Basin. Another wetter-than-normal part of the Columbia Basin is the Walla Walla Valley where orographic lifting by the Blue Mountains increases the average annual precipitation in the eastern part of the AVA to near 50 cm. Vineyard soils of the Walla Walla Valley, like those of the Columbia Gorge, have higher iron, and lower calcium and soluble salts. The uniqueness of Lake Chelan AVA soils is reflected in decreased concentrations of iron

As a first step in establishing an earthquake early warning system in Cascadia, we have installed the ElarmS component of the ShakeAlert system at the PacificNorthwest Seismic Network. In Cascadia our initial focus is primarily on the development of a seismo-geodetic-based real-time finite fault rupture algorithm to detect and characterize a large plate-boundary rupture in progress (see Crowell et. al., this session). In this regard the goal of the purely seismic-data-based ElarmS implementation is to 'trigger' the finite fault rupture algorithm. At the same time, however, the Cascadian ElarmS will also produce warnings for smaller onshore crustal earthquakes. While warnings from these smaller and closer earthquakes will provide shorter warning times for communities, and for less dramatic earthquakes, we intend to use them for educational purposes, and to coordinate with our regional and collaborating partners. They will also help to guide us to shorten data latencies and learn where additional instrumentation is most needed to increase performance. The accuracy of ElarmS in Cascadia is another major concern, because the current ElarmS model presumes an initial focal depth for earthquakes of 8 km based on California experience, while in Cascadia earthquakes of major concern may be as deep as 50 km, and/or occur beyond the western fringe of the seismic network. To this purpose our testing protocol is aimed at determining what changes are required to ensure top performance of an ElarmS-based warning system in Cascadia. Because of Cascadia's relatively low seismicity rate, and the paucity of data from plate boundary earthquakes there of any size, we have prioritized the development of a test system. The test system permits us to: 1) replay segments of actual seismic waveform data recorded from the PNSN and contributing seismic network stations to represent both earthquakes and noise conditions, and 2) broadcast synthetic data into the system to simulate signals we

Based on the monthly NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, OLR (outgoing longwave radiation) data, and tropical cyclone data from the Typhoon Annual and Tropical Cyclone Annual edited by China Meteorological Administration, the relationship between the number of tropical cyclones (with the strongest wind ≥ 17 m s-1, including tropical storm, strong tropical storm, and typhoon, simply called typhoon in this paper) engendered over the NorthwestPacific and South China Sea in summer and the associated climate conditions is studied. First, the characteristics and differences of the climatic conditions between the years with more typhoons and those with fewer typhoons are compared. The results show that the summer typhoon has a close relationship with SST (sea surface temperature) and ITCZ (intertropical convergence zone) anomalies in the preceding winter and spring. With a La Nina like SST anomaly (SSTA) pattern in the preceding winter and spring, the ITCZ will move northwestward and be enhanced around 160°E in the equatorial central Pacific from the preceding winter to spring. The activity of the Pacific ITCZ is in general stronger and its location is more northward than usual, especially in the typhoon genesis region in West Pacific. This background is propitious to have more typhoons in summer. On the other hand, an El Nino like SSTA pattern in the preceding winter will be companied with weaker ITCZ activities, and its location is more southward over the equatorial western Pacific from the preceding winter to spring; this background is propitious to have fewer typhoons in summer. In the year with more typhoons, the warm SST over West Pacific in the preceding winter provides a favorable condition for typhoon fromation in the following summer. It enhances the convergence in the troposphere and increases the water vapor supply to the warm SST region. In the following spring, the perturbation of the tropical ITCZ plays a more important role. When the ITCZ moves northward in

Agriculture represents a critical land use throughout the PacificNorthwest (PNW). It makes important contributions to the region’s economy, the nation’s food supply and to regional ecosystem services including air, water, and soil quality. As in many other regions of the U.S., adverse environmental...

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory was awarded ten Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) research grants in fiscal year 1996, six in fiscal year 1997, eight in fiscal year 1998 and seven in fiscal year 1999.(a) All of the fiscal year 1996 awards have been completed and the Principal Investigators are writing final reports, so their summaries will not be included in this document. This section summarizes how each of the currently funded grants addresses significant U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) cleanup issues, including those at the Hanford Site. The technical progress made to date in each of these research projects is addressed in more detail in the individual progress reports contained in this document. This research performed at PNNL is focused primarily in four areas: Tank Waste Remediation, Decontamination and Decommissioning, Spent Nuclear Fuel and Nuclear Materials, and Soil and Groundwater Cleanup.

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory was awarded ten Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) research grants in fiscal year 1996, six in fiscal year 1997, eight in fiscal year 1998, and seven in fiscal year 1999. All of the fiscal year 1996 award projects have been completed and will publish final reports, so their annual updates will not be included in this document. This section summarizes how each of the currently funded grants addresses significant US Department of Energy (DOE) cleanup issues, including those at the Hanford Site. The technical progress made to date in each of these research projects is addressed in more detail in the individual progress reports contained in this document. This research performed at PNNL is focused primarily in four areas: Tank Waste Remediation; Decontamination and Decommissioning; Spent Nuclear Fuel and Nuclear Materials; and Soil and Groundwater Cleanup.

PacificNorthwest National Laboratory has been awarded a total of 80 Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) research grants since the inception of the program in 1996. The Laboratory has collaborated on an additional 14 EMSP awards with funding received through other institution. This report describes how each of the projects awarded in 1999, 2000, and 2001 addresses significant U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) cleanup issues, including those at the Hanford Site. The technical progress made to date in each of these research projects is addressed in the individual project reports included in this document. Projects are under way in three main areas: Tank Waste Remediation, Decontamination and Decommissioning, and Soil and Groundwater Cleanup.

Full Text Available Results from a regional air quality forecast model, AIRPACT-3, were compared to AIRS carbon monoxide column densities for the spring of 2010 over the PacificNorthwest. AIRPACT-3 column densities showed high correlation (R > 0.9 but were significantly biased (~25% with consistent under-predictions for spring months when there is significant transport from Asia. The AIRPACT-3 CO bias relative to AIRS was eliminated by incorporating dynamic boundary conditions derived from NCAR's MOZART forecasts with assimilated MOPITT carbon monoxide. Changes in ozone-related boundary conditions derived from MOZART forecasts are also discussed and found to affect background levels by ± 10 ppb but not found to significantly affect peak ozone surface concentrations.

Full Text Available Recent taxonomic and molecular work on the eagle rays (Family Myliobatidae revealed a cryptic species in the northwestPacific. This species is formally described as Aetobatus narutobiei sp. nov. and compared to its congeners. Aetobatus narutobiei is found in eastern Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Korea and southern Japan. It was previously considered to be conspecific with Aetobatus flagellum, but these species differ in size, structure of the NADH2 and CO1 genes, some morphological and meristic characters and colouration. Aetobatus narutobiei is particularly abundant in Ariake Bay in southern Japan where it is considered a pest species that predates heavily on farmed bivalve stocks and is culled annually as part of a 'predator control' program. The discovery of A. narutobiei highlights the paucity of detailed taxonomic research on this group of rays. This discovery impacts on current conservation assessments of A. flagellum and these need to be revised based on the findings of this study.

Part 5 of the 1989 Annual Report to the US Department of Energy's Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health presents PacificNorthwest Laboratory's progress on work performed for the Office of Environmental Guidance and Compliance, the Office of Environmental Audit, the Office of National Environmental Policy Act Project Assistance, the Office of Nuclear Safety, the Office of Safety Compliance, and the Office of Policy and Standards. For each project, as identified by the Field Work Proposal, there is an article describing progress made during fiscal year 1989. Authors of these articles represent a broad spectrum of capabilities derived from five of the seven technical centers of the Laboratory, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the work. 35 refs., 1 fig.

Full Text Available Results from a regional air quality forecast model, AIRPACT-3, were compared to AIRS carbon monoxide column densities for the spring of 2010 over the PacificNorthwest. AIRPACT-3 column densities showed high correlation (R>0.9 but were significantly biased (~25 % with significant under-predictions for spring months with significant transport from Asia. The AIRPACT-3 CO bias relative to AIRS was eliminated by incorporating dynamic boundary conditions derived from NCAR's MOZART forecasts with assimilated MOPITT carbon monoxide. Changes in ozone-related boundary conditions derived from MOZART forecasts are also discussed and found to affect background levels by ±10 ppb but not found to significantly affect peak ozone surface concentrations.

The PacificNorthwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has been conducting marine testing of uranium adsorbent materials for the Fuel Resources Program, Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) beginning in FY 2012. The marine testing program is being conducted at PNNL’s Marine Sciences Laboratory (MSL), located at Sequim Bay, along the coast of Washington. One of the main efforts of the marine testing program is the determination of adsorption capacity and adsorption kinetics for uranium and selected other elements (e.g. vanadium, iron, copper, nickel, and zinc) for adsorbent materials provided primarily by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), but also includes other Fuel Resources Program participants. This report summarizes the major marine testing results that have been obtained to date using time series sampling for 42 to 56 days using either flow-through column or recirculating flume exposures. The major results are highlighted in this report, and the full data sets are appended as a series of Excel spreadsheet files. Over the four year period (2012-2016) that marine testing of amidoxime-based polymeric adsorbents was conducted at PNNL’s Marine Science Laboratory, there has been a steady progression of improvement in the 56-day adsorbent capacity from 3.30 g U/kg adsorbent for the ORNL 38H adsorbent to the current best performing adsorbent prepared by a collaboration between the University of Tennessee and ORNL to produce the adsorbent SB12-8, which has an adsorption capacity of 6.56 g U/kg adsorbent. This nearly doubling of the adsorption capacity in four years is a significant advancement in amidoxime-based adsorbent technology and a significant achievement for the Uranium from Seawater program. The achievements are evident when compared to the several decades of work conducted by the Japanese scientists beginning in the 1980’s (Kim et al., 2013). The best adsorbent capacity reported by the Japanese scientists was 3.2 g U/kg adsorbent for a

Kernel texture is a major factor influencing the classification and end use properties of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and is mainly controlled by the Puroindoline a (Pina) and Puroindoline b (Pinb) genes. Recently, a new puroindoline gene, Puroindoline b-2 (Pin b-2), was identified. In this study, 388 wheat cultivars and advanced breeding lines from the U.S. PacificNorthwest were investigated for frequencies of Puroindoline D1 alleles and Pinb-2 variants 2 and 3. Results indicated that Pinb-D1b (74.0%) was the predominant genotype among hard wheats (N = 196), the only other hard allele encountered was Pina-D1b (26.0%). Across all varieties, Pinb-2v3 was the predominant genotype (84.5%) compared with Pinb-2v2 (15.5%). However, among 240 winter wheat varieties (124 soft white, 15 club, 68 hard red and 33 hard white varieties), all carried Pinb-2v3. Among spring wheats, Pinb-2v2 and Pinb-2v3 frequencies were more variable (soft white 25.0:75.0, hard red 58.2:41.8 and hard white 40.0:60.0, respectively). Kernel texture variation was analyzed using 247 of the 388 wheat varieties grown in multi-location factorial trials in up to 7 crop years. The range of variety means among the four groups, soft winter, soft spring, hard winter and hard spring, was on the order of 15-25 single kernel characterization system (SKCS) Hardness Index. The least significant difference for each of these trials ranged from 2.8 to 5.6 SKCS Hardness Index. Observations lead to the conclusion that Pinb-2 variants do not exert a prominent effect on kernel texture, however, Pinb-2 variants do identify features of wheat germ plasm structure in the U.S. PacificNorthwest.

In order to test Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model performance for ultrafine particle concentrations in the PacificNorthwest, CMAQ v4.4 was modified for ternary NH3-H2SO4-H2O nucleation and for atmospheric processing of ultrafine particles. Sulfuric acid from sulfur dioxide oxidation is iteratively partitioned into gaseous sulfuric acid, newly condensed aerosol sulfate, and aerosol sulfuric acid contained in new 1 nm particles. Freshly nucleated particles are either coagulated to larger particles or grown by sulfuric acid condensation to 10 nm at which point they are included in CMAQ's existing Aitken mode. Multiple nucleation parameterizations were implemented into CMAQ, and one other was investigated in a sensitivity analysis. For a case study in the PacificNorthwest where aerosol number concentration and size distributions were measured, standard binary nucleation in CMAQ produces nearly no particles for this case study. Ternary nucleation can produce millions of 1 nm particles per cm3, but few of these particles survive coagulation loss and grow to 10 nm and into the Aitken mode. There are occasions when the additions to CMAQ increase the number of particles to within an order of magnitude of observations, but it is more common for number concentrations to remain underpredicted by, on average, one order of magnitude. Significant particle nucleation in CMAQ successfully produces a distinct Aitken and accumulation mode and an Aitken mode that is more prominent than the accumulation mode, although errors in the size distribution remain. A more recent ternary nucleation scheme including ammonium bisulfate clusters does not nucleate an appreciable number of particles.

Analyses of how organisms are likely to respond to a changing climate have focused largely on the direct effects of warming temperatures, though changes in other variables may also be important, particularly the amount and timing of precipitation. Here, we develop a network of eight growth-increment width chronologies for freshwater mussel species in the PacificNorthwest, United States and integrate them with tree-ring data to evaluate how terrestrial and aquatic indicators respond to hydroclimatic variability, including river discharge and precipitation. Annual discharge averaged across water years (October 1–September 30) was highly synchronous among river systems and imparted a coherent pattern among mussel chronologies. The leading principal component of the five longest mussel chronologies (1982–2003; PC1mussel) accounted for 47% of the dataset variability and negatively correlated with the leading principal component of river discharge (PC1discharge; r = −0.88; P Pacific Northwest, the season in which the vast majority of annual precipitation arrives. Mussel growth was also indirectly related to tree radial growth, though the nature of the relationships varied across the landscape. Negative correlations occurred in forests where tree growth tends to be limited by drought while positive correlations occurred in forests where tree growth tends to be limited by deep or lingering snowpack. Overall, this diverse assemblage of chronologies illustrates the importance of winter precipitation to terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and suggests that a complexity of climate responses must be considered when estimating the biological impacts of climate variability and change.

The purpose of this project was to (1) provide an internally-consistent set of downscaled projections across the Western U.S., (2) include information about projection uncertainty, and (3) assess projected changes of hydrologic extremes. These objectives were designed to address decision support needs for climate adaptation and resource management actions. Specifically, understanding of uncertainty in climate projections – in particular for extreme events – is currently a key scientific and management barrier to adaptation planning and vulnerability assessment. The new dataset fills in the Northwest domain to cover a key gap in the previous dataset, adds additional projections (both from other global climate models and a comparison with dynamical downscaling) and includes an assessment of changes to flow and soil moisture extremes. This new information can be used to assess variations in impacts across the landscape, uncertainty in projections, and how these differ as a function of region, variable, and time period. In this project, existing University of Washington Climate Impacts Group (UW CIG) products were extended to develop a comprehensive data archive that accounts (in a reigorous and physically based way) for climate model uncertainty in future climate and hydrologic scenarios. These products can be used to determine likely impacts on vegetation and aquatic habitat in the PacificNorthwest (PNW) region, including WA, OR, ID, northwest MT to the continental divide, northern CA, NV, UT, and the Columbia Basin portion of western WY New data series and summaries produced for this project include: 1) extreme statistics for surface hydrology (e.g. frequency of soil moisture and summer water deficit) and streamflow (e.g. the 100-year flood, extreme 7-day low flows with a 10-year recurrence interval); 2) snowpack vulnerability as indicated by the ratio of April 1 snow water to cool-season precipitation; and, 3) uncertainty analyses for multiple climate

In October of 2003 experts involved in various aspects of homeland security from the Pacific region met to engage in a free-wheeling discussion and brainstorming (a 'fest') on the role that technology could play in winning the war on terrorism in the Pacific region. The result was a concise and relatively thorough definition of the terrorism problem in the Pacific region, emphasizing the issues unique to Island nations in the Pacific setting, along with an action plan for developing working demonstrations of advanced technological solutions to these issues. Since PacFest 2003, the maritime dimensions of the international security environment have garnered increased attention and interest. To this end, PacFest 2004 sought to identify gaps and enabling technologies for maritime domain awareness and responsive decision-making in the Asia-Pacific region. The PacFest 2004 participants concluded that the technologies and basic information building blocks exist to create a system that would enable the Pacific region government and private organizations to effectively collaborate and share their capabilities and information concerning maritime security. The proposed solution summarized in this report integrates national environments in real time, thereby enabling effective prevention and first response to natural and terrorist induced disasters through better use of national and regional investments in people, infrastructure, systems, processes and standards.

On the Pacific coast of North America, at least two congeners of Zostera occur: native Zostera marina, and introduced, Z. japonica. Z. japonica is considered “invasive” and therefore, ecologically and economically harmful by some, while others consider it benign or perhaps benef...

The Tripler Army Medical Center is the only federal tertiary care hospital serving the Pacific Regional Medical Command. Due to Tripler's large area of responsibility, many behavioral health professionals are starting to employ more technology during their sessions. As explained in this article, virtual reality and telepsychology efforts are proving to benefit military service members and their families in the Pacific Rim. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Humans use a variety of deliberate means to modify biologically rich environs in pursuit of resource stability and predictability. Empirical evidence suggests that ancient hunter-gatherer populations engineered ecological niches to enhance the productivity and availability of economically significant resources. An archaeological excavation of a 3800-year-old wetland garden in British Columbia, Canada, provides the first direct evidence of an engineered feature designed to facilitate wild plant food production among mid-to-late Holocene era complex fisher-hunter-gatherers of the Northwest Coast. This finding provides an example of environmental, economic, and sociopolitical coevolutionary relationships that are triggered when humans manipulate niche environs.

Ommastrephes bartramii is an ecologically dependent species and has great commercial values among the Asia-Pacific countries. This squid widely inhabits the North Pacific, one of the most dynamic marine environments in the world, subjecting to multi-scale climatic events such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Commercial fishery data from the Chinese squid-jigging fleets during 1995-2011 are used to evaluate the influences of climatic and oceanic environmental variations on the spatial distribution of O. bartramii. Significant interannual and seasonal variability are observed in the longitudinal and latitudinal gravity centers (LONG and LATG) of fishing ground of O. bartramii. The LATG mainly occurred in the waters with the suitable ranges of environmental variables estimated by the generalized additive model. The apparent north-south spatial shift in the annual LATG appeares to be associated with the PDO phenomenon and is closely related to the sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height (SSH) on the fishing ground, whereas the mixed layer depth (MLD) might contribute limited impacts to the distribution pattern of O. bartramii. The warm PDO regimes tend to yield cold SST and low SSH, resulting in a southward shift of LATG, while the cold PDO phases provid warm SST and elevated SSH, resulting in a northward shift of LATG. A regression model is developed to help understand and predict the fishing ground distributions of O. bartramii and improve the fishery management.

This paper presents high frame rate imaging systems developed in Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology in recent years. Three types of imaging systems are included. The first type of system utilizes EG&G RETICON Photodiode Array (PDA) RA100A as the image sensor, which can work at up to 1000 frame per second (fps). Besides working continuously, the PDA system is also designed to switch to capture flash light event working mode. A specific time sequence is designed to satisfy this request. The camera image data can be transmitted to remote area by coaxial or optic fiber cable and then be stored. The second type of imaging system utilizes PHOTOBIT Complementary Metal Oxygen Semiconductor (CMOS) PB-MV13 as the image sensor, which has a high resolution of 1280 (H) ×1024 (V) pixels per frame. The CMOS system can operate at up to 500fps in full frame and 4000fps partially. The prototype scheme of the system is presented. The third type of imaging systems adopts charge coupled device (CCD) as the imagers. MINTRON MTV-1881EX, DALSA CA-D1 and CA-D6 camera head are used in the systems development. The features comparison of the RA100A, PB-MV13, and CA-D6 based systems are given in the end.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set was designed to address the physical variability in PacificNorthwest estuaries, the relationship between estuarine processes and the variability in...

Full Text Available We developed a habitat suitability index (HSI model to evaluate the variability of suitable habitat for neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii under anomalous environments in the NorthwestPacific Ocean. Commercial fisheries data from the Chinese squid-jigging vessels on the traditional fishing ground bounded by 35°-45°N and 150°-175°E from July to November during 1998-2009 were used for analyses, as well as the environmental variables including sea surface temperature (SST, chlorophyll-a (Chl-a concentration, sea surface height anomaly (SSHA and sea surface salinity (SSS. Two empirical HSI models (arithmetic mean model, AMM; geometric mean model, GMM were established according to the frequency distribution of fishing efforts. The AMM model was found to perform better than the GMM model. The AMM-based HSI model was further validated by the fishery and environmental data in 2010. The predicted HSI values in 1998 (high catch, 2008 (average catch and 2009 (low catch indicated that the squid habitat quality was strongly associated with the ENSO-induced variability in the oceanic conditions on the fishing ground. The La Niña events in 1998 tended to yield warm SST and favorable range of Chl-a concentration and SSHA, resulting in high-quality habitats for O. bartramii. While the fishing ground in the El Niño year of 2009 experienced anomalous cool waters and unfavorable range of Chl-a concentration and SSHA, leading to relatively low-quality squid habitats. Our findings suggest that the La Niña event in 1998 tended to result in more favorable habitats for O. bartramii in the NorthwestPacific with the gravity centers of fishing efforts falling within the defined suitable habitat and yielding high squid catch; whereas the El Niño event in 2009 yielded less favorable habitat areas with the fishing effort distribution mismatching the suitable habitat and a dramatic decline of the catch of O. bartramii. This study might provide some potentially

Spatially distributed rainfall-runoff models, made feasible by the widespread availability of land surface characteristics data (especially digital topography), and the evolution of high power desktop workstations, are particularly useful for assessment of the hydrological effects of land surface change. Three examples are provided of the use of the Distributed Hydrology-Soil-Vegetation Model (DHSVM) to assess the hydrological effects of logging in the PacificNorthwest. DHSVM provides a dynamic representation of the spatial distribution of soil moisture, snow cover, evapotranspiration and runoff production, at the scale of digital topographic data (typically 30-100 m). Among the hydrological concerns that have been raised related to forest harvest in the PacificNorthwest are increases in flood peaks owing to enhanced rain-on-snow and spring radiation melt response, and the effects of forest roads. The first example is for two rain-on-snow floods in the North Fork Snoqualmie River during November 1990 and December 1989. Predicted maximum vegetation sensitivities (the difference between predicted peaks for all mature vegetation compared with all clear-cut) showed a 31% increase in the peak runoff for the 1989 event and a 10% increase for the larger 1990 event. The main reason for the difference in response can be traced to less antecedent low elevation snow during the 1990 event. The second example is spring snowmelt runoff for the Little Naches River, Washington, which drains the east slopes of the Washington Cascades. Analysis of spring snowmelt peak runoff during May 1993 and April 1994 showed that, for current vegetation relative to all mature vegetation, increases in peak spring stream flow of only about 3% should have occurred over the entire basin. However, much larger increases (up to 30%) would occur for a maximum possible harvest scenario, and in a small headwaters catchment, whose higher elevation leads to greater snow coverage (and, hence, sensitivity

Forests are the largest aboveground sink for atmospheric carbon (C), and understanding how they change through time is critical to reduce our C-cycle uncertainties. We investigated a strong decline in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from 1982 to 1991 in PacificNorthwest forests, observed with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) series of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometers (AVHRRs). To understand the causal factors of this decline, we evaluated an automated classification method developed for Landsat time series stacks (LTSS) to map forest change. This method included: (1) multiple disturbance index thresholds; and (2) a spectral trajectory-based image analysis with multiple confidence thresholds. We produced 48 maps and verified their accuracy with air photos, monitoring trends in burn severity data and insect aerial detection survey data. Area-based accuracy estimates for change in forest cover resulted in producer's and user's accuracies of 0.21 +/- 0.06 to 0.38 +/- 0.05 for insect disturbance, 0.23 +/- 0.07 to 1 +/- 0 for burned area and 0.74 +/- 0.03 to 0.76 +/- 0.03 for logging. We believe that accuracy was low for insect disturbance because air photo reference data were temporally sparse, hence missing some outbreaks, and the annual anniversary time step is not dense enough to track defoliation and progressive stand mortality. Producer's and user's accuracy for burned area was low due to the temporally abrupt nature of fire and harvest with a similar response of spectral indices between the disturbance index and normalized burn ratio. We conclude that the spectral trajectory approach also captures multi-year stress that could be caused by climate, acid deposition, pathogens, partial harvest, thinning, etc. Our study focused on understanding the transferability of previously successful methods to new ecosystems and found that this automated method does not perform with the same accuracy in PacificNorthwest forests

Full Text Available Forests are the largest aboveground sink for atmospheric carbon (C, and understanding how they change through time is critical to reduce our C-cycle uncertainties. We investigated a strong decline in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI from 1982 to 1991 in PacificNorthwest forests, observed with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA series of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometers (AVHRRs. To understand the causal factors of this decline, we evaluated an automated classification method developed for Landsat time series stacks (LTSS to map forest change. This method included: (1 multiple disturbance index thresholds; and (2 a spectral trajectory-based image analysis with multiple confidence thresholds. We produced 48 maps and verified their accuracy with air photos, monitoring trends in burn severity data and insect aerial detection survey data. Area-based accuracy estimates for change in forest cover resulted in producer’s and user’s accuracies of 0.21 ± 0.06 to 0.38 ± 0.05 for insect disturbance, 0.23 ± 0.07 to 1 ± 0 for burned area and 0.74 ± 0.03 to 0.76 ± 0.03 for logging. We believe that accuracy was low for insect disturbance because air photo reference data were temporally sparse, hence missing some outbreaks, and the annual anniversary time step is not dense enough to track defoliation and progressive stand mortality. Producer’s and user’s accuracy for burned area was low due to the temporally abrupt nature of fire and harvest with a similar response of spectral indices between the disturbance index and normalized burn ratio. We conclude that the spectral trajectory approach also captures multi-year stress that could be caused by climate, acid deposition, pathogens, partial harvest, thinning, etc. Our study focused on understanding the transferability of previously successful methods to new ecosystems and found that this automated method does not perform with the same accuracy in Pacific

We developed a habitat suitability index (HSI) model to evaluate the variability of suitable habitat for neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) under anomalous environments in the NorthwestPacific Ocean. Commercial fisheries data from the Chinese squid-jigging vessels on the traditional fishing ground bounded by 35°-45°N and 150°-175°E from July to November during 1998-2009 were used for analyses, as well as the environmental variables including sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration, sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) and sea surface salinity (SSS). Two empirical HSI models (arithmetic mean model, AMM; geometric mean model, GMM) were established according to the frequency distribution of fishing efforts. The AMM model was found to perform better than the GMM model. The AMM-based HSI model was further validated by the fishery and environmental data in 2010. The predicted HSI values in 1998 (high catch), 2008 (average catch) and 2009 (low catch) indicated that the squid habitat quality was strongly associated with the ENSO-induced variability in the oceanic conditions on the fishing ground. The La Niña events in 1998 tended to yield warm SST and favorable range of Chl-a concentration and SSHA, resulting in high-quality habitats for O. bartramii. While the fishing ground in the El Niño year of 2009 experienced anomalous cool waters and unfavorable range of Chl-a concentration and SSHA, leading to relatively low-quality squid habitats. Our findings suggest that the La Niña event in 1998 tended to result in more favorable habitats for O. bartramii in the NorthwestPacific with the gravity centers of fishing efforts falling within the defined suitable habitat and yielding high squid catch; whereas the El Niño event in 2009 yielded less favorable habitat areas with the fishing effort distribution mismatching the suitable habitat and a dramatic decline of the catch of O. bartramii. This study might provide some potentially valuable

The Kuroshio Current (KC) and Oyashio Current (OC) are the two major western boundary currents of the Pacific Ocean and their interplay exerts a major control on the climate evolution of the northwestern Pacific region as well as East Asia. Although millennial scale variations in the strength and flow pattern of the KC are well documented, only little is known on the long-term evolution of this ocean current and its role in affecting regional and global climate over geological time scales. Here, we present surface and thermocline temperature records covering the last two glacial-interglacial cycles of IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program) Site C0011, SE of Japan, using the lipid paleothermometers TEXH86 (tetraether index of tetraethers consisting of 86 carbon atoms), UK´37 (unsaturated ketone index) and LDI (long-chain diol index). Lower average water temperatures (20.1-20.7 °C in TEXH86, 21.6-22.0 °C in UK´37, and 20.7-21.9 °C in LDI) during marine isotope stages (MIS) 2 and 6 are considered to indicate a reduction in warm water mass export from the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) to northern mid-latitudes via the KC due to decreased subtropical gyre circulation in the North Pacific. A synchronous southward displacement of the KC/OC interfrontal zone resulted in an overall stronger influence of colder and more polar waters at Site C0011. MIS 1, 3 and 5 are characterized by generally higher water temperatures (21.7-22.1 °C in TEXH86, 23.2-24.3 °C in UK´37, and 23.1-24.3 °C in LDI), likely reflecting an increased northward transport of subtropical waters to the study site. Higher Holocene than Eemian water temperatures are attributed to a stronger KC and the formation of its short meander south of Japan, whereas a less strong KC during the Eemian likely favored the formation of the large meander path. Better correlations between the different lipid paleothermometers during cold MIS are considered to indicate more similar production seasons and habitat

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Worldwide, adult harbor seals (Phoca vitulina typically limit their movements and activity to 100 km from their capture site at least once, two of which traveled round trip to and from the Pacific coast, a total distance >400 km. Disjunct spatial use patterns observed provide new insight into general harbor seal behavior. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Long-distance movements and disjunct spatial use of adult harbor seals have not been reported for the study region and are rare worldwide in such a large proportion of tagged individuals. Thus, the ecological influence of individual seals may reach farther than previously assumed.

Spatial variation in climate, soils, disturbance regime, and forest management - as well as temporal variation in weather - all influence terrestrial carbon sources and sinks. Spatially-distributed, process-based, carbon cycle simulation models provide a means to integrate information from these various influences to estimate carbon pools and flux over large domains. Here we apply the Biome-BGC model over the 4 state (OR, WA, ID, Western MT) Northwest U.S. region for the interval from 1986-2010. Landsat data was used to characterize disturbances and revealed that the overall disturbance rate on forest land across the region was 0.8 % yr-1, with 49 % as harvests, 28 % as fire, and 23 % as pest/pathogen. A large proportion of the harvested area was on private forestland (62 %) and a large proportion of total burned area was on public forestland (89 %). Net ecosystem production (NEP) for the 2006-2010 interval on forestland was predominantly positive (a carbon sink) throughout the region, with maximum values in the Coast Range, intermediate values in the Cascade Mountains, and relatively low values in the Inland Rocky Mountain ecoregions. Croplands throughout the region had consistently high NEP. Localized negative NEPs were mostly associated with recent disturbances. There was large interannual variation in regional NEP, with notably low values across the region in 2003. In all ecoregions there was a downward trend in NEP over the 25 year study period. The net ecosystem carbon balance was positive in OR, near neutral in ID and WA, and negative (a carbon source) MT. The Northwest region as a whole was a carbon sink in the 2006-2010 period.

This study uses the new satellite-based Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) mission to retrieve tropospheric profiles of temperature and moisture over the data-sparse eastern Pacific Ocean. The COSMIC retrievals, which employ a global positioning system radio occultation technique combined with "first-guess" information from numerical weather prediction model analyses, are evaluated through the diagnosis of an intense atmospheric river (AR; i.e., a narrow plume of strong water vapor flux) that devastated the PacificNorthwest with flooding rains in early November 2006. A detailed analysis of this AR is presented first using conventional datasets and highlights the fact that ARs are critical contributors to West Coast extreme precipitation and flooding events. Then, the COSMIC evaluation is provided. Offshore composite COSMIC soundings north of, within, and south of this AR exhibited vertical structures that are meteorologically consistent with satellite imagery and global reanalysis fields of this case and with earlier composite dropsonde results from other landfalling ARs. Also, a curtain of 12 offshore COSMIC soundings through the AR yielded cross-sectional thermodynamic and moisture structures that were similarly consistent, including details comparable to earlier aircraft-based dropsonde analyses. The results show that the new COSMIC retrievals, which are global (currently yielding ???2000 soundings per day), provide high-resolution vertical-profile information beyond that found in the numerical model first-guess fields and can help monitor key lower-tropospheric mesoscale phenomena in data-sparse regions. Hence, COSMIC will likely support a wide array of applications, from physical process studies to data assimilation, numerical weather prediction, and climate research. ?? 2008 American Meteorological Society.

In hydroelectric dominated systems, the value and benefits of energy are higher during extended dry periods and lower during extended or extreme wet periods. By accounting for regional and temporal differences in the relationship between wind speed and reservoir inflow behavior during wind farm site selection, the benefits of energy diversification can be maximized. The goal of this work was to help maximize the value of wind power by quantifying the long-term (30-year) relationships between wind speed and streamflow behavior, using British Columbia (BC) and the PacificNorthwest (PNW) as a case study. Clean energy and self-sufficiency policies in British BC make the benefits of increased generation during low streamflow periods particularly large. Wind density (WD) estimates from a height of 10m (North American Regional Reanalysis, NARR) were correlated with cumulative usable inflows (CUI) for BC (collected from BC Hydro) for 1979-2010. The strongest WD-CUI correlations were found along the US coast (r ~0.55), whereas generally weaker correlations were found in northern regions, with negative correlations (r ~ -0.25) along BC's North Coast. Furthermore, during the lowest inflow years, WD anomalies increased by up to 40% above average values for the North Coast. Seasonally, high flows during the spring freshet were coincident with widespread negative WD anomalies, with a similar but opposite pattern for low inflow winter months. These poorly or negatively correlated sites could have a moderating influence on climate related variability in provincial electricity supply, by producing greater than average generation in low inflow years and reduced generation in wet years. Wind speed and WD trends were also analyzed for all NARR grid locations, which showed statistically significant positive trends for most of the PNW and the largest increases along the Pacific Coast.

Full Text Available In hydroelectric dominated systems, the value and benefits of energy are higher during extended dry periods and lower during extended or extreme wet periods. By accounting for regional and temporal differences in the relationship between wind speed and reservoir inflow behavior during wind farm site selection, the benefits of energy diversification can be maximized. The goal of this work was to help maximize the value of wind power by quantifying the long-term (30-year relationships between wind speed and streamflow behavior, using British Columbia (BC and the PacificNorthwest (PNW as a case study. Clean energy and self-sufficiency policies in British BC make the benefits of increased generation during low streamflow periods particularly large. Wind density (WD estimates from a height of 10m (North American Regional Reanalysis, NARR were correlated with cumulative usable inflows (CUI for BC (collected from BC Hydro for 1979-2010. The strongest WD-CUI correlations were found along the US coast (r ~0.55, whereas generally weaker correlations were found in northern regions, with negative correlations (r ~ -0.25 along BC's North Coast. Furthermore, during the lowest inflow years, WD anomalies increased by up to 40% above average values for the North Coast. Seasonally, high flows during the spring freshet were coincident with widespread negative WD anomalies, with a similar but opposite pattern for low inflow winter months. These poorly or negatively correlated sites could have a moderating influence on climate related variability in provincial electricity supply, by producing greater than average generation in low inflow years and reduced generation in wet years. Wind speed and WD trends were also analyzed for all NARR grid locations, which showed statistically significant positive trends for most of the PNW and the largest increases along the Pacific Coast.

The influences of large wood on Pacific salmon are well-studied, but studies of nonsalmonid species such as lampreys are uncommon. To address this need, we evaluated the potential effects of large wood on larval lampreys (Pacific Lamprey, Entosphenus tridentatus; and potentially Western Brook Lamprey Lampetra richardsoni), as well as juvenile Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch, in a small coastal Oregon stream. Our objectives were to 1) identify in-stream habitat characteristics associated with the presence of larval lampreys and abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon; and 2) evaluate how these characteristics were associated with in-stream wood. To address habitat use, we quantified presence of larval lampreys in 92 pools and abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon in 44 pools during summer low flows. We focused on a study reach where large wood was introduced into the stream between 2008 and 2009. Results indicated that presence of larval lampreys was significantly associated with availability of fine sediment and deeper substrate. The abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon (fish/pool) was strongly associated with pool surface area and to a weaker extent with the proportion of cobble and boulder substrates in pools. Pools with wood, regardless of whether they were formed by wood, had significantly greater coverage of fine sediment, deeper substrate, and greater pool surface area. Taken together, these results suggest that in-stream wood can provide habitat associated with presence of larval lampreys and greater abundance of juvenile Coho Salmon.

The under-explored abyssal depths of the Kurile-Kamchatka region have been re-examined during the KuramBio (Kurile-Kamchatka Biodiversity Study) expedition. Combining new KuramBio data with previous expedition data in this region has enhanced our understanding abyssal sponge fauna, in particular, the patchiness, rarity, and exceptional richness of the Cladorhizidae family. In total, 14 sponge species, from 7 genera, in 5 families, within two classes (Demospongiae and Hexactinellida) were collected. Of the 14 species, 29% (4 spp.) have been found previously in this region, 36% (5 spp.) were new to the regional abyssal fauna, and 21% (3 spp.) were new to science. The number of abyssal species in this region has now been increased by 26% (8 spp.) and genera by nearly 15% (2 genera). Rarity is a prominent feature of this abyssal fauna, with more than half of species only found at one station, and 83% (19 spp.) of species found previously in this region were not re-found during KuramBio. Cladorhizid sponges dominate demosponge species and genera richness in the abyssal Kurile-Kamchatka region; accounting for 87% (20 spp.) of all demosponge species, and accounting for over 60% (5 genera) of all demosponge genera. Sponge richness in this region is potentially aided by the productivity of the ocean waters, the geological age of the Pacific Ocean, low population densities, and the varied topographic features (ridges, trenches, and seamounts) found in this region. Unusually, the dominance of demosponges in the Kurile-Kamchatka sponge faunal composition is not replicated in other well-sampled abyssal regions, which tend to be richer in deep-sea hexactinellid fauna. Broad depth, latitudinal and longitudinal ranges in Kurile-Kamchatka abyssal fauna are a key characteristic of this faunal assemblage. Strong abyssal faunal connectivity is found between the Kurile-Kamchatka region and North Pacific abyssal fauna, with weaker faunal connections found with the adjacent semi

This study found that there is a significant negative correlation between summer drought in Korea, China and Japan and the frequency of tropical cyclone (TC) in the subtropical western North Pacific (SWNP) using effective drought index (EDI). The frequency of TCs that affect Korea is low (high) in a year of summer drought (non-drought). As a case study, in 1994 when there is extremely severe summer drought in Korea, there was high frequency of TCs while in 2003 when there was least severe summer drought, the frequency of TCs is the lowest. Changes in the anomalous secondary circulation, namely anomalous upward (downward) flow in the SWNP and anomalous downward (upward) flow in the mid-latitudes of East Asia, are one of the causes of drought (non-drought).

Full Text Available To examine the effect of nitrogen (N fertilization on forest carbon (C sequestration and water loss, we used an artiﬁcial neural network model to estimate C fluxes and evapotranspiration (ET in response to N fertilization during four post-fertilization years in a PacificNorthwest chronosequence of three Douglas-fir stands aged 61, 22 and 10 years old in 2010 (DF49, HDF88 and HDF00, respectively. Results showed that N fertilization increased gross primary productivity (GPP for all three sites in all four years with the largest absolute increase at HDF00 followed by HDF88. Ecosystem respiration increased in all four years at HDF00, but decreased over the last three years at HDF88 and over all four years at DF49. As a result, fertilization increased the net ecosystem productivity of all three stands with the largest increase at HDF88, followed by DF49. Fertilization had no discernible effect on ET in any of the stands. Consequently, fertilization increased water use efficiency (WUE in all four post-fertilization years at all three sites and also increased light use efficiency (LUE of all the stands, especially HDF00. Our results suggest that the effects of fertilization on forest C sequestration and water loss may be associated with stand age and fertilization; the two younger stands appeared to be more efficient than the older stand with respect to GPP, WUE and LUE.

This final report represents the culmination of eight years of biological research devoted to increasing the productivity of short rotation plantations of Populus trichocarpa and Populus hybrids in the PacificNorthwest. Studies described herein provide an understanding of tree growth, stand development and biomass yield at various spacings, and how patterns thereof differ by Populus clone in monoclonal and polyclonal plantings. Also included is some information about factors related to wind damage in Populus plantings, use of leaf size as a predictor of growth potential, and approaches for estimating tree and stand biomass and biomass growth. The work was accomplished in three research plantations, all established cooperatively with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and located at the DNR Tree Improvement Center near Olympia. The first plantation was established in Spring 1986 to evaluate the highly touted {open_quotes}woodgrass{close_quotes} concept and compare it with more conventional short-rotation management regimes, using two Populus hybrid clones planted at five spacings. Besides providing scientific data to resolve the politicized {open_quotes}wood-grass{close_quotes} dispute, this plantation has furnished excellent data on stand dynamics and woody biomass yield. A second plantation was established at the same time; groups of trees therein received two levels of irrigation and different amounts of four fertilizer amendments, resulting in microsites with diverse moisture and nutrient conditions.

This 1989 Annual Report from PacificNorthwest Laboratory (PNL) to the US Department of Energy (DOE) describes research in environment, safety, and health conducted during fiscal year 1989. The report again consists of five parts, each in a separate volume. This volume contains research in the atmospheric sciences. Currently, the broad goals of atmospheric research at PNL are to describe and predict the nature and fate of atmospheric contaminants and to develop an understanding of the atmospheric processes contributing to their distribution on local, regional, continental, and global scales in the air, in clouds, and on the surface. The redistribution and long-range transport of transformed contaminants passing through clouds is recognized as a necessary extension of our research to even larger scales in the future. Eventually, large-scale experiments on cloud processing and redistribution of contaminants will be integrated into the national program on global change, investigating how energy pollutants affect aerosols and clouds and the transfer of radiant energy through them. As the significance of this effect becomes clear, its global impact on climate will be studied through experimental and modeling research. The description of ongoing atmospheric research at PNL is organized in terms of the following study areas: atmospheric studies in complex terrain, large-scale atmospheric transport and processing of emissions, and climate change. This report describes the progress in FY 1989 in each of these areas. A divider page summarizes the goals of each area and lists project titles that support research activities. 9 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs.

Lichens have long been regarded as bioindicators of air pollution, and structural studies typically have indicated negative impacts in highly polluted areas. In this research, Parmelia sulcata and Platismatia glauca were collected from one clean and two polluted sites in the PacificNorthwest forests of the United States to investigate the anatomical and ultrastructural responses of relatively resistant lichens to moderate air pollution. Light microscopy of polluted materials revealed only slight increases in the algal cell proportions of the thallus, and a decrease in the fungal cells of the medulla. Using transmission electron microscopy, increased lipid droplets in the cytoplasm and an increase in the cell wall thickness of the photobionts were found in the polluted lichens. These results were compared with physiological data in which the net carbon uptake did not show any significant differences; however, the total chlorophyll content was heightened in the polluted samples. The increased total chlorophyll content and the absence of any changes in the algal cell proportions of the polluted samples suggest that the photobionts possessed a higher chlorophyll content per unit volume of the photobiont at polluted sites. The results also indicate that lichens have altered their storage allocation in different cellular compartments. This may be a result of symbiotic readjustment(s) between the photobiont and the mycobiont. In comparison with the physiological results from these two species, these changes do not represent damaging effects by low-level air pollution.

Full Text Available Soil-borne pathogens of the PacificNorthwest decrease yields in both spring and winter wheat. Pathogens of economic importance include Fusarium culmorum, Pratylenchus neglectus, P. thornei, and Rhizoctonia solani AG8. Few options are available to growers to manage these pathogens and reduce yield loss, therefore the focus for breeding programs is on developing resistant wheat cultivars. A recombinant inbred line population, LouAu (MP-7, NSL 511036, was developed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL associated with resistance to P. neglectus and P. thornei. This same population was later suspected to be resistant to F. culmorum and R. solani AG8. This study confirms partial resistance to F. culmorum and R. solani AG8 is present in this population. Six major and 16 speculative QTL were identified across seven measured traits. Four of the six major QTL were found within the same genomic region of the 5A wheat chromosome suggesting shared gene(s contribute to the resistance. These QTL will be useful in breeding programs looking to incorporate resistance to soil-borne pathogens in wheat cultivars.

Full Text Available Two approaches to ecological restoration planning, limiting-factors analysis and process-based restoration, are employed in efforts to recover endangered salmonid species throughout the PacificNorthwest of North America. Limiting-factors analysis seeks to identify physical limitations to fish production that may be addressed by habitat restoration; it is known as the “Field of Dreams” hypothesis (i.e., if you build it, they will come. Process-based restoration, in contrast, assumes that protection and/or restoration of watershed-scale processes will best achieve self-sustaining habitat features that support salmon populations. Two case studies from the Columbia River basin (northwestern USA display current efforts to integrate these two restoration approaches to improve salmonid populations. Although these examples both identify site-specific habitat features to construct, they also recognize the importance of supporting key watershed processes to achieve restoration goals. The challenge in advancing the practice of restoration planning is not in simply acknowledging the conceptual benefits of process-based restoration while maintaining a traditional focus on enumerating site-specific conditions and identifying habitat-construction projects, but rather in following process-based guidance during recovery planning and, ultimately, through implementation of on-the-ground actions. We encourage a realignment of the restoration community to truly embrace a process-based, multi-scalar view of the riverine landscape.

In recent decades, much work has been invested to describe forest allocations with high societal values. Yet, few comparative analyses have been conducted on their importance and differences across the regions of the globe. This paper introduces a conceptual framework to characterize forest priority areas defined as areas with identified higher importance of societal values in the context of multi-objective forest management. The six dimensions of the framework (designation objective, prioritization of objectives, governance, permanency, spatial scale, and management regime) characterize the general approach (integrative vs. segregative) to multi-objective forest management and explain the form and role of priority areas for providing forest services. The framework was applied in two case study regions—PacificNorthwest of USA (PNW) and Central Europe (CE). Differences between the regions exist in all dimensions. Late-successional and riparian reserves are specific to the PNW, while protection against natural hazards is specific to CE. In PNW, priority areas are mainly focused on public lands whereas in CE they include public and private lands. Priority areas in PNW are designated in a much larger spatial context and have longer time commitments. In CE, integration of management objectives on priority areas prevails, whereas in PNW priority areas tend to be designated for single objectives. In CE, greater tolerance of timber management within priority areas compared to PNW is allowed. Convergent trends in application of priority areas between the regions indicate mixing of segregation and integration approaches to forest management.

Plant traits include physiological, morphological, and biogeochemical characteristics that in combination determine a species sensitivity to environmental conditions. Standardized, co-located, and geo-referenced species- and plot-level measurements are needed to address variation in species sensitivity to climate change impacts and for ecosystem process model development, parameterization and testing. We present a new database of plant trait, forest carbon cycling, and soil property measurements derived from multiple TERRA-PNW projects in the PacificNorthwest US, spanning 2000-2014. The database includes measurements from over 200 forest plots across Oregon and northern California, where the data were explicitly collected for scaling and modeling regional terrestrial carbon processes with models such as Biome-BGC and the Community Land Model. Some of the data are co-located at AmeriFlux sites in the region. The database currently contains leaf trait measurements (specific leaf area, leaf longevity, leaf carbon and nitrogen) from over 1,200 branch samples and 30 species, as well as plot-level biomass and productivity components, and soil carbon and nitrogen. Standardized protocols were used across projects, as summarized in an FAO protocols document. The database continues to expand and will include agricultural crops. The database will be hosted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORLN) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). We hope that other regional databases will become publicly available to help enable Earth System Modeling to simulate species-level sensitivity to climate at regional to global scales.